Registration still open for the 18th Annual FAA Commercial Space Transportation Conference, set to take place this week (Feb. 4-5) at the National Housing Center in Washington, D.C. The conference will address the latest in U.S. commercial launch activities, human spaceflight, crew, and spaceports and includes the opportunity to meet and network with key federal officials from DOT, NASA, and DOD, industry leaders, space entrepreneurs, international space partners, legislators, astronauts, educators, and space enthusiasts. This is the premier event for information about the FAA’s role and the future direction of commercial space transportation. Onsite registration and webcast options also available. More information at: http://www.faacst2015.com
Twitter hashtag: #FAACST2015

Biologist, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA Space Biologist and Payload integrator, Editor of NASAWatch.com and Astrobiology.com, Lapsed climber, Explorer, Synaesthete, Former Challenger Center board member...

8 replies on “FAA Commercial Space Transportation Conference”

  1. These guys are still waiting for the NTSB to report on Virgin Galactic’s accident. Meet with a Key Official from the Department of Defense? I think that the government’s just screwing around, making fun of these “commercial space” people.

    1. DOD wants space planes, once suborbitals are flying commercially and thousands of people are using them. no one will bat an eye that the miltary is now using them.

      1. X-37 has taken over the shuttle facility at Kennedy. Patrick and Cape Canaveral Air Force stations are doing who knows what. They care if Virgin Galactic is duplicating flights from the late 50’s with actors on board to watch skittles float before their faces for five minutes? That “commercial” activity has zero impact on the military.

        1. Thought the reason DOD was interested in space planes was to have the ability to fly low and pop over the horizon without being detected till the last minute???

          1. The DOD is interested in space planes, Trans-Atmospheric Vehicles by the Air Force dictionary, so that they don’t have to spend so much on rockets anymore.

            This is my core problem with Musk. He doesn’t understand that, or is being criminal. It’s an engineering reality that rockets are only a side show in place until the propulsion for TAV is ready.

            When a crackpot says that they’re going to reuse rockets, they’re testing that theory. And that is theory, not a hypothesis.

            From time to time, I think that Musk is being played by people I don’t understand somehow very high and above everything.

          2. As RAND pointed out, TAVs and RLVs are complementary. The TAV that DARPA is bidding on is for small quick-response payloads. RLVs are not as flexible or responsive, but are low-cost and powerful. The Navy does not limit itself to hydrofoils and ACVs. It uses different hardware for different jobs.

            Musk, as a “bulk carrier” is going with RLVs. As he pointed out (and he is neither a crackpot nor a criminal), If you want to get to orbit or beyond, go with pure rockets. It is not like Von Braun and Korolev didn’t know about airplanes and they were really smart dudes.

            If you’re looking for sheer awesomeness in space planes, look no further than the outrageous Skylon from the UK. The engine operates in the most spectacular non-intuitive display of super-physics imaginable. Pure genius.

          3. Von Braun had a tav integrated into his overall Mars Plan. What he called a shuttle and what NASA came to call a shuttle were two different things. It’s a good read; it’s only available in kindle on amazon at the moment. I’m not surprised Musk didn’t read that far ahead.

            Imagine how insane you would have to be to think: “Von Braun? Oh, I can do better than that guy, and cheaper! And we’re going to do it all alone with our super company selling internet subscriptions!”

            I hope Skylon is real. It’s been a while since I heard about the cooling. Last I read it was certain people looking at the cooling before the compressor and them saying it’s great, but no regular people having a look. I dunno’. I’ve been sitting around for a couple decades waiting for somebody to do something. Skylon will be great, if it’s real.

            I’m just so used to everything being riddled with fraud and/or incompetence that I think none of any nations’ attempts are going to work. That in a couple more generations we’ll be back to living in trees.

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