24 May 2006

Experimental Permit NPRM: No Comment?

I remembered several people talking about the AST's new NPRM for Experimental Permits for Reusable Suborbital Rockets back at Space Access. I finally got a chance at work to "come up for air" so-to-speak, and realized that we hadn't commented on it. I read through the thing and was trying to digest the legalese, and then I decided to pop on over to the docket (go to this address and type in the Docket Number: 24197) and see what everyone else had been saying...

...Crickets...chirping in the evening breeze...

Comments on this NPRM close in only about 6 days. After that, the AST is supposed to go over the comments, evaluate them, and then make the final rule based on the feedback they got. This is a kind of important rule here. This rule is what is going to make or break a lot of the smaller suborbital RLV companies when it comes to flight testing and vehicle development. And nobody has commented? Not even XCOR?

[Yes I know I'm being a hypocrite Randall]

The rule seemed pretty good so far, but there wasn't even so much as a "this looks good, we agree" from anyone. Not even wingbats threatening to spit in their faces, or worrying about people tossing Tungsten rods out the window at apogee, or concerned about the militarization (or disarmament) of space. Does everyone just think that this is the epitome of Rules-y Goodness and Purity or something?

We're going to be preparing and submitting our comments in the next day or so, and I encourage any of you who have useful comments to make (and even some wingbats--after all, we can always use people who are so crazy that they make all of our comments seem like sweet reason in comparison) to join us. This is kind of important guys!

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