Streamlining Space Launch Range Safety (2000) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
Executive Summary
Executive Summary
Pages 1-6
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 1... ...
. a top-level, independent review of the Air Force's safety guidelines and procedures for government and commercial space launches as published in EWR 127-1 to determine if there are alternative approaches to the protection of the general public that are both more efficient and less expensive an independent assessment of the current and planned range safety and flight termination systems and procedures for government and commercial space launches to estimate the technical feasibility as well as the cost effectiveness of an autonomous GPS flight termination system an independent examination of the Air Force's safety guidelines and procedures associated with incursions of aircraft and ships into restricted air space and waters to determine if holds and delays of government and commercial space launches can be reduced while still maintaining an acceptable level of safety iEWR 127- ~ is the primary range safely requirements document for both the ER and WR.
|
From page 2... ...
AFRICA GATES Because a launch vehicle may pass over populated landmasses before orbital insertion, strict limits are often provided in the form of "gates" in the impact limit lines (ILLs) STREAMLINING SPACE LAUNCH RANGE SAFETY and destruct lines that define the range of allowable flight paths.
|
From page 3... ...
If properly executed, the complete transfer of range safety development, developmental testing and evaluation, and sustaining engineering to AFMC would increase efficiency and reduce costs without compromising safety by eliminating overlapping responsibilities between the ranges and AFMC, by minimizing differences in range safety policies and procedures applicable to the WR and ER, and by allowing users to deal with a single office when seeking approval to use new or modified systems on both ranges. This transfer could be facilitated by issuing an Air Force Instruction describing the certification of flight safety systems for commercial, civil, and military launches at the ER or WR.
|
From page 4... ...
This has the potential to reduce costs, improve responsiveness to unplanned events, and enable ranges to more easily support a broad complement of launch vehicles and mission profiles. With the incorporation of onboard GPS receivers, fully autonomous FTSs would become technically feasible, but additional research and testing is needed to resolve outstanding issues related to system performance requirements, development and validation costs, and public acceptability.
|
From page 5... ...
Implementation of the recommendations would eliminate the overly cautious risk-avoidance practices that have crept into established range safety practices, reform EWR 127-1 to focus on performance-based requirements based on objective risk standards, create a single range safety office under AFMC to consolidate nonoperational range safety activities, greatly reduce the need for downrange safety facilities, reduce launch holds and scrubs caused by aircraft and ship incursions, and upgrade the ranges with GPS receiver tracking systems to reduce costs and pave the way for long-term improvements, such as semiautonomous FTSs and space-based ranges. The recommendations in this report are consistent with and complementary to many ongoing efforts to modernize space launch infrastructure and procedures.
|
From page 6... ...
space launch capabilities. STREAMLINING SPACE LAUNCH RANGE SAFETY EWR 127-1 (Eastern and Western Range Safety Requirements)
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.