1.14.2008
George Nield, acting AST chief
I see no announcement or notice on FAA/AST's website but Patti Smith confirms via e-mail that, no surprise, deputy associate administrator Dr. George C. Nield will step in as AST acting associate administrator, as of Feb. 1, 2008. And yes, George will be officiating at next month's big AST event, the 11th FAA Annual Commercial Space Transportation Conference: Roadmap to 2015, Feb. 5-6, 2008, Crystal City, Virginia. Here's the agenda. Look forward to seeing George there!
(And if you can't wait to hear George talk, here is a great podcast of his most recent appearance on The Space Show, last July.)
1.10.2008
Patti Grace Smith Rockets On
"Volatus per inane homo privatus." Stamp it on your rocket.And find the translation in the text of FAA Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation Patti Grace Smith's talk, Space Means Business, which she delivered at the Washington Space Business Roundtable last month (Dec. 6, 2007).
Patti's resignation from FAA/AST (which Clark Lindsey first reported on HobbySpace on Monday) is official, and here, also via Clark, is the announcement, including a statement by Patti.
As we all know, Patti has worked in the commercial space arena at the Department of Transportation since 1994. (Ah, remember the ol' OCST?) Under her leadership at FAA/AST, the office's ground breaking work served both the public and nascent space transportation industry and launched private space regulation into the new century. We imagine Patti in the room the first time a federal government official uttered the phrase "commercial space" without smirking (in fact, she may have been the government official who uttered it). Today, her office and work serve as a model for private spaceflight regulators worldwide.
Here are some thoughts Patti shared in her talk last month at WSBR:
When I spoke at the Space Business Roundtable in 1999, Space Adventures Ltd was only a year old.
In 1999 Bigelow Aerospace was founded. So was XCOR. At that time, there was no Armadillo, no Blue Origin, no SpaceX or Virgin Galactic.
The X Prize had not been won.
The Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004 obviously had not been written. The FAA was not yet the agency in charge of private human spaceflight.
There were no regulations for experimental permits governing the testing of suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles. There were no regulations governing crew and passengers on suborbital flights. Between 1999 and today there have been nearly 200 expendable launch vehicle launch attempts.
As the result of a steady and durable momentum … matched to a growing awareness of opportunities in space … all those things are now realities.
Spaceflight is changing. The wide circle of activity is expanding. Future vehicles will not all have “Property of the U.S. Government” stamped on them … whether they fly from the States … or from states overseas.
The fact is there is a private industry out there building the next epoch of transportation.
There are no parallels. Nothing compares. The new civilian spaceflight business is altogether different from predecessor carriers.
The genus might be familiar, perhaps the species, too. But this is the first time they’ve appeared together. In Latin … Volatus per inane homo privatus. “Spaceflight. Human. Private.”Whatever space has been up until today, it is an emerging business now....
Indeed.
In an e-mail today, Patti told me, "My plan is to stay connected to space in some new capacity. I am very excited about exploring that and seeing where it takes me. I am fully committed to this industry and have much still to contribute."
Splendid. For now, we say best of luck to Patti! We look forward to news of her next, no doubt bold, steps. Meanwhile, we thank her for years of support and leadership in launching the new era of commercial space.
Now more than ever -- as Patti says -- space means business.
1.07.2008
Space law attractions '08
Space-time flies and the action never stops for space lawyers and friends. Here's a quick scan of selected happenings of interest to the space law and business community in the new year. Much more to follow. Meanwhile, add these to your illustrious 2008 space law calendar and get ready to rocket from Vienna to Virginia, Paris to Phoenix, Mississippi to Nebraska, and over to Toronto, Montreal, Strasbourg, Singapore, Arcachon, Beijing, Cairo, Colorado, Nashville, New York, Rome, Geneva, Glasgow, Washington and beyond.The global space law adventure continues....
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Other dates to come include, of course, the 2008 X-Prize Cup and all the hot events associated therewith; the European Centre for Space Law's (ECSL) summer course on space law and policy (this year's will be the 17th, if I recall correctly), and other events not yet scheduled as of this post (or, events to which I have yet to receive my gilded, engraved e-mail invite... no worries, SLP's inbox never closes... ;), much more.
For now, here is the Manfred Lachs space law moot court competition 2008 calendar (Concordia and Landia v. Usurpia). Good luck all moot counsel.
And in between all this action, keep up with the lineup of spaceflights scheduled for launch in 2008 (Helmit tip: HobbySpace, Spaceports.)
Every nanosecond counts.
Happy 2008!
