Rocketry Planet

WASHINGTON, District of Columbia — While the Bush administration is pumping out last-minute final rules with significant effects on the U.S. environment, national parks, endangered species and the workplace, the Federal Aviation Administration is operating in a less politically charged galaxy: hobby rockets.  

Just in time for Christmas, the agency issued final regulations designed to provide both freedoms and limits for the growing unmanned, amateur rocket industry, while ensuring it preserves what the FAA called its good safety record.

"Our primary concern is public safety, but we didn't want to create a big, burdensome process either," said George Nield, the FAA's associate administrator for commercial space transportation.

The proposed rule issued in June 2007 caused some consternation in the amateur rocketry community, which is used to considerable self-regulation. The way enthusiasts read the proposal, the agency was asking for a mountain of paperwork, limits on how close to an airport they could launch and specifics on propulsion systems, recovery systems and launchers. In the end, most of the differences were worked out.

The final rule makes it easier for a hobbyist to fly models weighing up to 3.3 pounds without FAA notification. Until now, the launch of any model weighing more than one pound required federal notification.

'A Huge Thing'

"It's a huge thing for us," said Trip Barber, president of the National Association of Rocketry, in Marion, Iowa. He said amateur rocket organizations have been trying to convince the FAA for 15 years that allowing heavier rockets to launch without notice wouldn't imperil safety.

The FAA also estimates the new rule will save about $500,000 a year from the $8.9 million cost of the current rule, mainly because of less paperwork.

Americans' interest in rocket flight was spurred by the Soviet Union's 1957 launch of Sputnik, the first satellite in space. Generations of children, students, inventors and researchers caught the bug and began building amateur rockets.

U.S. rulemakers first got involved with amateur rocketry in 1963, setting the one-pound limit for flying models. Since then, the size, power and sophistication of the rockets have been growing, as have the numbers of participants and spectators. The rocketry association estimates that there are 12 million flights annually.

High-Powered Models

The rockets may be hobby shop kits that use balsa wood, plastic, and paper with a one-time-use motor. Or they can be high-powered models that are built by pioneers who want to brush the boundaries of space.

The hobby attracted national attention with the story of 14- year-old Homer Hickam Jr., who was propelled to build rockets — some of which blew up — in Coalwood, West Virginia. His exploits produced a best-selling book called "Rocket Boys" and a 1998 movie, "October Sky."

The final rule issued Dec. 4 allows amateur rockets to fly as high as 150 kilometers, or 93.2 miles. The FAA reasoned in last year's proposed regulation that the height didn't "create an unacceptable hazard" because few satellites orbited that low.

While applauding the generous ceiling, commenter Nickolaus Leggett, an inventor, pilot and electronics technician, asked the agency "to think about a regulatory structure for even more advanced amateur rocket launches further into space and into Earth orbit."

'Raw Egg Unbroken'

Most rocketry events aren't so lofty. Next year's Team America Rocketry Challenge, set for The Plains, Virginia, says 750 teams will "design, build and fly a one-stage model rocket that reaches an altitude of 750 feet, stays aloft for 45 seconds, and returns 1 raw egg unbroken."

"The FAA is concerned about air space and so are we," said Ken Good, president of the Tripoli Rocketry Association Inc. in Bellevue, Nebraska, a 3,500 member group that holds events, educates members and sets safety standards.

The rule says all amateur rockets must be unmanned and suborbital. It sets four classes of rockets, three new ones for the higher-powered categories. Amateur rocket engines now can use liquid propellants and sophisticated electronics to open parachutes or ignite stages in the launch.

The new categories come with some limits, including requiring that someone 18 or older must be present at launches and that launches must be five miles away from an airport.

It also says a rocket shouldn't "cross into the territory of a foreign country" unless the U.S. has an agreement with the nation.

International Incident

"The last thing they want is a hobby rocket flying into a foreign country and causing an international incident," said Richard Dickinson, a director of the Rocketry Organization of California. He said the majority of flights in his club are a mile high or less.

He has built models using toy banks shaped like crayons, to which he adds a motor mount, fins and a parachute.

"People think this is dangerous," Dickinson said. "It's just a bunch of overgrown kids throwing their toys as hard and fast as they can into the sky."

(Cindy Skrzycki is a regulatory columnist for Bloomberg News.)

Copyright © 2008, Bloomberg News.

Reader comments:

#1 Re: Article: Bush team fires rocket rule into midnight sky

One again another vague post about regulation changes. I hope it lightens them.

cwbullet on 12-16-2008 07:28 PM

#2 Re: Article: Bush team fires rocket rule into midnight sky

I thought the article was interesting but I don't agree with this regarding the folks who participate in the model rocketry hobby;

Quote:

"People think this is dangerous," Dickinson said. "It's just a bunch of overgrown kids throwing their toys as hard and fast as they can into the sky."

Is it just me that doesn't see our extended group that way?


I have to say though that these Planet News Updates are Outstanding! There are some great articles that pop up that I would never have seen otherwise.

Cas2047 on 12-16-2008 08:04 PM

#3 Re: Article: Bush team fires rocket rule into midnight sky

I agree the news section is awesome. I am just not sure what it means. Is this an attempt to remove the wind behind the sail of the BATFE lawsuit?

cwbullet on 12-16-2008 08:10 PM

#4 Re: Article: Bush team fires rocket rule into midnight sky

Quote:

Is this an attempt to remove the wind behind the sail of the BATFE lawsuit?

I have to admit that I know next to nothing about where all of that stands. I wish someone involved with the lawsuit could weigh in with quarterly updates on how things are going, what's next, etc..

Cas2047 on 12-16-2008 08:13 PM

#5 Re: Article: Bush team fires rocket rule into midnight sky

I can say or the last 6 months, only one article / post has shown any progress is being made on the lawsuit. I am not sure anyone knows it's status. I sure would like to get a Christmas present for the hobby.

cwbullet on 12-16-2008 08:18 PM

#6 Re: Article: Bush team fires rocket rule into midnight sky

We're jumping the "hopeful gun" again, I think.

This article is just another restatement on this one:
http://www.rocketryplanet....k=view&id=2678&Itemid=28 it seems.

Read the article again. It's discussing FAA issues. The FAA has ZERO to do with explosive regulation so the article is not making any reference to the impeding lawsuit or it's resolution.

MarkM on 12-16-2008 10:44 PM

#7 Re: Article: Bush team fires rocket rule into midnight sky

I got that. We can hope though.

cwbullet on 12-17-2008 06:39 AM

#8 Re: Article: Bush team fires rocket rule into midnight sky

The FAA actually drafted those rules in order to streamline the process for us and themselves. They recognized that our self-regulation has resulted in an excellent safety record. A mistake in the draft of the rules would have created massive amounts of paperwork for us and the FAA. But, we made comments about the proposed rules pointing out this problem and it was fixed before the final rules were released.

Don't you wish things worked as well with that other government agency?

-- Roger

jadebox on 12-17-2008 03:16 PM

#9 Re: Article: Bush team fires rocket rule into midnight sky

Comments on this are still available for reading online at
http://www.regulations.gov...tDetail&d=FAA-2007-27390

Kapton on 12-17-2008 03:21 PM

#10 Re: Article: Bush team fires rocket rule into midnight sky

Quote:

Don't you wish things worked as well with that other government agency?

They sure have streamlined how quick I can be sent to Iraq.

cwbullet on 12-17-2008 03:27 PM

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