It would have been nice of they reported on what the moratorium actually entails. What safety regulations are going to come back?
It's explained in the article
They basically made it law so the only regulation was "informed consent", with informed consent you can launch private missions.
Government and private bodies were supposed to come together to come up with sensible rules. No one has done that.
So once the law passes nothing will really change, except government bodies will be required to figure out a framework to qualify private launches
For what it's worth, I found reference to the Oct 2023 date in the below FAA file which points to the CSLCA. The CSLCA states the date in the following paragraph (9):
‘‘(9) LEARNING PERIOD.—Beginning on October 1, 2023, the
Secretary may propose regulations under this subsection with-
out regard to subparagraphs (C) and (D) of paragraph (2).
The development of any such regulations shall take into consid-
eration the evolving standards of the commercial space flight
industry as identified in the reports published under para-
graphs (5), (6), and (7).’’
Paragraph 2 references 51 USC 50905(c)(2):
"(2)Regulations.—Regulations issued under this subsection shall—
(A)describe how such regulations would be applied when the Secretary is determining whether to issue a license under this chapter;
(B)apply only to launches in which a vehicle will be carrying a human being for compensation or hire;
(C)be limited to restricting or prohibiting design features or operating practices that—
(i)have resulted in a serious or fatal injury (as defined in 49 CFR 830, as in effect on November 10, 2004) to crew, government astronauts, or space flight participants during a licensed or permitted commercial human space flight; or
(ii)contributed to an unplanned event or series of events during a licensed or permitted commercial human space flight that posed a high risk of causing a serious or fatal injury (as defined in 49 CFR 830, as in effect on November 10, 2004) to crew, government astronauts, or space flight participants; and
(D)be issued with a description of the instance or instances when the design feature or operating practice being restricted or prohibited contributed to a result or event described in subparagraph (C)."
It would have been nice of they reported on what the moratorium actually entails. What safety regulations are going to come back?
It's explained in the article
They basically made it law so the only regulation was "informed consent", with informed consent you can launch private missions.
Government and private bodies were supposed to come together to come up with sensible rules. No one has done that.
So once the law passes nothing will really change, except government bodies will be required to figure out a framework to qualify private launches
For what it's worth, I found reference to the Oct 2023 date in the below FAA file which points to the CSLCA. The CSLCA states the date in the following paragraph (9):
‘‘(9) LEARNING PERIOD.—Beginning on October 1, 2023, the Secretary may propose regulations under this subsection with- out regard to subparagraphs (C) and (D) of paragraph (2). The development of any such regulations shall take into consid- eration the evolving standards of the commercial space flight industry as identified in the reports published under para- graphs (5), (6), and (7).’’
Paragraph 2 references 51 USC 50905(c)(2):
"(2)Regulations.—Regulations issued under this subsection shall— (A)describe how such regulations would be applied when the Secretary is determining whether to issue a license under this chapter; (B)apply only to launches in which a vehicle will be carrying a human being for compensation or hire; (C)be limited to restricting or prohibiting design features or operating practices that— (i)have resulted in a serious or fatal injury (as defined in 49 CFR 830, as in effect on November 10, 2004) to crew, government astronauts, or space flight participants during a licensed or permitted commercial human space flight; or (ii)contributed to an unplanned event or series of events during a licensed or permitted commercial human space flight that posed a high risk of causing a serious or fatal injury (as defined in 49 CFR 830, as in effect on November 10, 2004) to crew, government astronauts, or space flight participants; and (D)be issued with a description of the instance or instances when the design feature or operating practice being restricted or prohibited contributed to a result or event described in subparagraph (C)."
References:
https://www.faa.gov/media/27291
https://www.govinfo.gov/link/plaw/114/public/90?link-type=pdf&.pdf
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/51/50905