WHILE daring aerospace entrepreneurs race for the X Prize, a $10 million reward for the first private vehicle to fly passengers to space, official agencies have been sparring and ducking no less keenly to avoid the task of licensing them for the feat.
The X Prize will go to the first vehicle that can carry three people into space (100 kilometres or higher), and repeat the feat within two weeks. Set up by a private foundation, the prize is intended to jump-start a generation of privately funded low-cost reusable spacecraft. But so far, neither the Federal Aviation Administration nor any other agency has been willing to take full responsibility for allowing such craft to fly in US airspace.
The US Congress has now forced the issue. Last week it passed the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act, which says the FAA must grant a licence for a private spacecraft within six months of a completed application, or give a written explanation for why the licence is being denied. One crucial provision was to set a framework for allowing passengers to give informed consent to the potential risks. The bill also allows permits similar to those given to experimental aircraft 鈥� a short cut that could help kick-start the private launch industry.
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That suits the X Prize competitors, several of whom hope to reach space before the end of this year. The first application for a licence was completed in December by California-based company XCOR Aerospace. Its rivals, including Scaled Composites of California 鈥� tipped as a likely winner of the prize 鈥� will be watching the fate of the application closely.