A
commercial astronaut is a person trained to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a privately funded
spacecraftA spacecraft is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. On a sub-orbital spaceflight, a spacecraft enters space then returns to the Earth. For an orbital spaceflight, a spacecraft enters a closed orbit around the planetary body. Spacecraft used for human spaceflight carry people on board as...
.
The criteria for determining who has achieved
human spaceflightHuman spaceflight is spaceflight with a human crew and possibly passengers. This makes it unlike robotic space probes or remotely-controlled satellites...
vary. The
FAIThe Fédération Aéronautique Internationale is the world governing body for air sports and aeronautics and astronautics world records. This includes man-carrying vehicles from balloons to spacecraft, and unmanned vehicles...
defines spaceflight as any flight over 100 kilometres (62 miles) of altitude. In the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, professional, military, and commercial astronauts who travel above an altitude of 80 kilometres (50 miles) are eligible to purchase astronaut wings.
A
commercial astronaut is a person trained to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a privately funded
spacecraftA spacecraft is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. On a sub-orbital spaceflight, a spacecraft enters space then returns to the Earth. For an orbital spaceflight, a spacecraft enters a closed orbit around the planetary body. Spacecraft used for human spaceflight carry people on board as...
.
Criteria
The criteria for determining who has achieved
human spaceflightHuman spaceflight is spaceflight with a human crew and possibly passengers. This makes it unlike robotic space probes or remotely-controlled satellites...
vary. The
FAIThe Fédération Aéronautique Internationale is the world governing body for air sports and aeronautics and astronautics world records. This includes man-carrying vehicles from balloons to spacecraft, and unmanned vehicles...
defines spaceflight as any flight over 100 kilometres (62 miles) of altitude. In the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, professional, military, and commercial astronauts who travel above an altitude of 80 kilometres (50 miles) are eligible to purchase astronaut wings. Until 2003,
professional space travelersAn astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
were sponsored and trained exclusively by governments, either by the military or by civilian space agencies. However, with the first sub-orbital flight of the privately-funded
Scaled Composites Tier OneTier One is Scaled Composites' program of suborbital human spaceflight using the reusable spacecraft SpaceShipOne and its launcher White Knight. The craft are designed by Burt Rutan, and the project is funded 20 million US Dollars by Paul Allen...
in 2004, the commercial astronaut category was created.
FAA Commercial Astronaut rating
With the advent of private commercial space flight ventures in the U.S., the
FAAThe Federal Aviation Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Transportation with authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...
has been faced with the task of developing a certification process for the pilots of commercial spacecraft. The Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984 established the FAA's
Office of Commercial Space TransportationThe Office of Commercial Space Transportation is the branch of the United States Federal Aviation Administration that approves any commercial rocket launch operations—that is, any launches that are not classified as model, amateur, or "by and for the government."-Overview:Under...
and required companies to obtain a launch license for vehicles, but at the time manned commercial flight - and the licensing of crewmembers - was not considered. The Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act has led to the issuance of draft guidelines by the FAA in February 2005 for the administration of vehicle and crew certifications. Currently, the FAA has not issued formal regulatory guidance for the issuance of a Commercial Astronaut Certificate, but as an interim measure, has established the practice of awarding "Commercial Astronaut Wings" to commercial pilots who have demonstrated the requisite proficiency.
Commercial Astronauts
Two awards have been made, to SpaceShipOne pilots
Mike MelvillMichael Winston "Mike" Melvill is one of the test pilots for SpaceShipOne, the experimental spaceplane developed by Scaled Composites. Melvill piloted SpaceShipOne on its first flight past the edge of space, flight 15P on June 21, 2004, thus becoming the first commercial astronaut and the 435th...
and
Brian BinnieWilliam Brian Binnie is a former United States Navy officer and is one of the test pilots for SpaceShipOne, the experimental spaceplane developed by Scaled Composites.-History:...
.
See also
- Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
- Space tourism
Space tourism is the recent phenomenon of tourists paying for flights into space.As of 2009, orbital space tourism opportunities are limited and expensive, with only the Russian Space Agency providing transport...
- Space Adventures
Space Adventures, Ltd. is the only space tourism company currently providing human space mission opportunities to the world marketplace.-Background:Eric C. Anderson is the president and CEO of Space Adventures...
- Space colonization
Space colonization is the concept of autonomous human habitation of locations outside Earth....
- Private spaceflight
Private spaceflight is flight above Earth altitude conducted by and paid for by an entity other than a government. In the early decades of the Space Age, the government space agencies of the Soviet Union and United States pioneered space technology augmented by collaboration with affiliated design...
- List of private spaceflight companies
- Pilot certification in the United States
Pilot certification in the United States is required for an individual to act as a pilot of an aircraft. It is regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration , a branch of the Department of Transportation...