The Commercial Space Industry

Since antiquity, human beings have always dreamt about spaceflight, and in the past centuries, the Chinese applied rockets for commercial and military purposes (Goehlich et. al, 2013). It was not until the 20^th century that powerful rockets capable of overcoming the force of gravity emerged, allowing human exploration into the open space which consequently led to the launching of the first satellite in space in 1960. During this period of 1960s, an unmanned spacecraft photographed and probed the moon before the landing of astronauts. In the early 1970s, communication and navigation satellites became prominent in everyday use and by the 1980s, satellite communications extended to carry television programs thus providing opportunities for people to tap the satellite signals on their home dish antennas. However, hurdles in space tourism began in 1986 when a shuttle Challenger shattered after takeoff, killing all its seven crew members. This Challenger tragedy led to the reevaluation of American space program, and today suitable launch systems exist in which the design of the satellite system has a compatibility that makes it possible to launch from more than one system (Webber, 2012).

The Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984 marked the legal framework for facilitating commercial activities in space. This law was established to enable regulation of space activities through which the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) authorizes, oversees and regulates launches and reentry of launches as well as the operation of launches carried out within the US atmosphere. The current FAA regulations in the space tourism industry embedded in Title 14 states that any space tourism pilot ought to possess a license and instrument rating; possess knowledge, skills, and experience of flying an aircraft alongside receiving mission-specific drill for every stage of flight (Goehlich et. al, 2013).. These regulation requirements are ambiguous and restrictive because various types of crafts have different flight characteristics and thus the regulations should be reviewed to enable these FAA regulations to be used as training guidelines to incorporate better training for pilots.

There will be a bright future come 2030 for commercial space tourism given the number of space exploration experiences which show a potential of sparking up a competition. The presence of a competitive opportunity will open up a genuine marketplace that will guarantee improvement in services, an increase in safety and reliability and the prices for exploration will most likely go down just like in aviation. Space tourism will develop into a means of transportation where only a single traveler will be accepted to sit adjacent to the pilot giving an extraordinary experience of the typical scene. Space exploration will become open not only to the wealthy elites but also to the general public including the average families who will be able to travel to the moon for a holiday based on decreased exploration prices(Webber, 2012).

There are minimum qualifications requirements established by the FAA that every pilot of human spaceflight must meet. Pilots in space tourism industry must have as well as carry a FAA certification that has an instrument rating. For crews flying sub-orbital profile, the Aerospace Medicine Association determined FAA Class I certificate as the relevant medical standard given that suborbital flights are less strenuous than traditional flights (Goehlich et. al, 2013). Pilots must have the know-how and training in operating aircraft while putting on pressure suits given the high altitudes in the suborbital space that require pressure gears. Pilots must have broad drilling in emergency procedures and crew management. Lastly, given the fact that suborbital flights involve great speed and fast decision making, pilots with experience in jet flights are prioritized in the industry (Goehlich et. al, 2013).

References

Webber, D. (2012). Space tourism: Its history, future and importance. Journal Of International    Academy Of Astronautics, 92(2), 138-143.             http://dx.doi.org/ttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2012.04.03

Goehlich, R. A., Anderson, J. K., Harrold, N. N., Bemis, J. A., Nettleingham, M. T., Cobin, J.     M., Zimmerman, B. R., Avni, B. L., Gonyea, M. D., & Ilchena, N. Y. (2013). Pilots for         Space Tourism. Space Policy Journal, 29(2), Retrieved from            http://commons.erau.edu/ww-graduate-studies/2