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2018-04-04 -Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
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NOAA explains restriction on SpaceX launch webcast
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 [SpaceNews] A cutoff of live video on a recent SpaceX launch reflects new awareness by regulators of the imaging capabilities of onboard cameras on launch vehicles and requirements for companies to adhere to laws that some in the industry believe are outdated.
During the March 30 launch of 10 Iridium Next satellites on a SpaceX Falcon 9, SpaceX cut off the live video from the rocket’s second stage nine minutes after liftoff. The company cited “restrictions” imposed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for terminating the live feed.
“The SpaceX application was received by our office four days before launch,” said Tahara Dawkins{see Photo}, director of CRSRA, at an April 3 meeting of the Advisory Committee on Commercial Remote Sensing here. She noted that, under law, the office has up to 120 days to make a ruling on a license application
| They are not ready for commercial space with quick turn-around. Obviously not ready for anything not totally bureaucratic. |
but undertook an “extremely expedited review” that was completed in three days, working very closely with SpaceX, an effort she called “unprecedented.”
In order to get a license approved in some form in time for the launch, Dawkins said the government agreed to temporarily waive a number of requirements for the license. That, however, did not extend to permitting live public video from orbit.
“With additional time to review and evaluate and, if necessary, elevate, we could have worked it out a little bit more and maybe allowed for live streaming,” she said. For future launches, “we’re hoping to get a better review of what that livestreaming is, and what potential risk to national security each one will have.”
| It looks like another department has been identified for Trump to radically prune or eliminate. |
Dawkins said that no previous SpaceX launches had NOAA commercial remote sensing licenses, even though many have flown onboard cameras, including several previous Iridium missions. An April 2 launch of a Falcon 9 from Florida carrying a Dragon cargo spacecraft had no such restrictions, she said, because that was considered a government mission. While the spacecraft is performing a mission under contract to NASA, the launch itself was considered commercial and licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation.
NOAA was not aware of the previous launches that featured onboard cameras. “Our office is extremely small, and there’s a lot of things out there that we miss,” she said. “The onus is on the companies to come to us and get a license when needed.”
Some in the industry speculate a tipping point may have come with the inaugural launch of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket. That launch placed a Tesla Roadster sports car in orbit, attached to the rocket’s upper stage and equipped with several cameras. Those cameras provided live views of the car, with the Earth often in the background, for several hours after launch. The live feed attracted at times hundreds of thousands of viewers.
NOAA did not directly address at the committee meeting any link between the Falcon Heavy launch and the new scrutiny regarding remote sensing licensing of upper stages. Dawkins, specifically asked about that launch, confirmed it did not have a NOAA license.
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Posted by 3dc 2018-04-04 00:00||
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