Feb 8 2005

From The Space Library

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Current revision

Officials of the Personal Spaceflight Federation announced the newly formed organization's establishment. The Federation's stated purpose was to design and uphold the standards and processes necessary to ensure public safety, while promoting the growth of the private spaceflight industry. Pursuant to landmark legislation signed by President George W. Bush in December 2004~ Pub. L. No. 108-492, the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004~ the industry group planned to work with federal regulators to draft rules and standards for suborbital space tourism. The new federation brought together visionary space entrepreneurs, including SpaceShipOne designer Burt Rutan, whose team had won the US$10 million X Prize in October 2004 for conducting the first private suborbital spaceflight, and video-game developer John D. Carmack II, whose Armadillo Aerospace team had been among the leading contenders for the X Prize. Executive Director of the X Prize Foundation Gregg E. Maryniak, serving as the Federation's spokesperson, remarked on the law's new mandate that government and industry work together to develop safety standards. Maryniak stated that the Federation believed strongly that private industry must devise a suborbital product considerably safer than that of the current civil space program. (Personal Spaceflight Federation, “Space Entrepreneurs Resolve To Create Industry Group To Promote Safety Standards and Growth of the Personal Spaceflight Industry,” news release, 8 February 2005,http://www.commercialspaceflight.org/pressreleases/PSF%20Press%20Release%20-%20Original%20Announcement.pdf (accessed 27 August 2009); Alan Boyle, “Space Racers Unite in Federation: Industry Group Will Follow Up on New Law,” MSNBC.com, 9 February 2005, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6936543/ (accessed 28 August 2009).)

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