Virgin Galactic's Alex Tai Elected Chairman
Aero-News learned this week the Personal Spaceflight Federation
(PSF) -- an organization comprised of private, public and
non-profit organizations working to make commercial human
spaceflight a reality -- has announced new members, a new slate of
officers, and a new Chairman... all as the PSF continues to bolster
support for the burgeoning commercial human spaceflight
industry.
PSF members include spaceship developers and operators,
spaceports, space destinations, and space transportation
agents. In the past six months, Bigelow Aerospace,
SpaceDev, AirLaunch LLC, and New Mexico's Spaceport America have
joined up with existing members SpaceX, Scaled Composites, Space
Adventures, Armadillo Aerospace, the X PRIZE Foundation,
Rocketplane-Kistler, XCOR Aerospace, Transformational Space
Corporation, Virgin Galactic, and the Mojave Spaceport to create an
even more unified presence for the industry.
"The growing diversity of our membership is one of the true
strengths of the Personal Spaceflight Federation," explained
Michael S. Kelly, President of the emerging organization. "For
example, we have four of the six COTS finalists on board, which
just goes to show how even companies in heated competition with one
another are willing to work together to address common issues."
Alex Tai, Senior Vice President and head of operations for
Virgin Galactic and a board member of The Spaceship Company, was
elected Chairman of the PSF along with a slate of new officers
following the most recent meeting of the members, held in
conjunction with the International Space Development Conference in
Los Angeles earlier this year.
Tai, who first began his career with Virgin as a commercial
pilot for Virgin Atlantic, is also training to become the first
commercial pilot for SpaceShipTwo, now in development.
"This new industry can now speak with a collective voice. We aim
to fight for solid foundations in legislation and regulation, to
confront together the issues that will be placed before us, and to
facilitate the growth of a society with regular space travel for
everyone," explained Tai .
Additional officers include Vice-Chairman Jeff Greason,
CEO of XCOR Aerospace; Treasurer Stuart O. "Stu" Witt, General
Manager of the Mojave Spaceport; and Secretary George French, CEO
of Rocketplane-Kistler. George French recently led the acquisition
of Kistler Aerospace by suborbital spaceflight company Rocketplane
Limited, Inc.
Michael S. Kelly, recently retained as President of the Personal
Spaceflight Federation, holds a distinguished record as the
long-time chairman of the FAA Commercial Space Transportation
Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) and more recently as the Vice
President of Flight Operations for the X PRIZE Cup.
Priorities Set
After several meetings throughout the year, members have also
agreed on an agenda and set of priorities -- including:
-
Member
Coordination – Sharing resources, best practices,
and staff expertise when addressing issues common to PSF members
and critical to the industry.
- Government Interface – Working with
Congress, the FAA, the State Department, and other Federal agencies
to develop a legal and regulatory environment supportive of the
growth of the commercial human spaceflight industry.
- Safety – Distributing best practices
while working towards voluntary industry standards in areas such as
spaceport operations, crew and passenger training, and vehicle
manufacture, operations, and maintenance.
- Liability Protection – Bolstering
liability protection at state and Federal levels and developing
standard materials in such areas as informed consent.
- Insurance – Working with the insurance
markets on behalf of member companies and informing the insurance
industry about commercial spaceflight insurance needs and
opportunities.
- Public Relations – Updating the media
and general public with industry news, issues, and activities.
Earlier this year, the aerospace CEOs who make up the membership
of the PSF met to discuss how to respond to new regulations
proposed by the FAA. This spring, the FAA proposed two new
regulations addressing crew and spaceflight participant safety as
well as the testing of rocket-powered vehicles under a new
"experimental permits" regulatory regime.
"We were able to use the technical expertise of our industry and
the practical experience of the businessmen who make up our
membership to further bolster the effectiveness of these new rules
while at the same time allowing our industry the flexibility needed
to innovate, especially with regard to safety," explained
Kelly.
The PSF was formed in early 2005, after Congress’s passage
of the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act.