Space Access '04 Conference Review

savuporo writes "The annual Space Access Society conference was held last week, with most of all the alt.space heavyweights being present. Speakers included people from XCOR, X-Prize, Armadillo Aerospace and even NASA. The review is available at HobbySpace. In contrast to last years conference, private space transportation is now literally off the ground and the focus of discussion has gradually shifted from hardware designs to regulation, liability and legislation which remain the roadblocks to be cleared on path to outer space."

Comments

Interesting Article

[Syncdata]

Simply obtaining factory floor insurance, so-called "slip and fall" policies have been very hard to obtain for the launch companies. The mere word "rocket" scares them off. (One company has been turned down by 22 insurers so far.)

When I think of difficulties faced by these companies, I think of engineering hurdles. Getting insurance is one of those things that I didn't think about, but imagine it from the insurance companies perspective.

Well sir, I think you'll find X-COR will be well served by the policies we have to offer. Now, what kind of workplace hazards would you say you deal with regularly? Rocket fuel you say. Well I'm certain we can work...and this is for what now? Orbital flight you say..."

I imagine that meeting OSHA standards alone would be a non-trivial barrier to starting such a company

Re:Interesting Article

[georgewilliamherbert]

When I think of difficulties faced by these companies, I think of engineering hurdles. Getting insurance is one of those things that I didn't think about,

It's nice that things have progressed to the point that insurance is now a major problem in comparison.

Our previous problems were a lot harder...

...but imagine it from the insurance companies perspective.

Insurance is a barrier, but it's one manageable either with time, location, or money.

• Time: Work with insurers in depth to make them familiar with the environment
• Location: Fly out of the Mojave airport, which already has civilian supersonic aircraft and rocket activities (or, somewhere else which is pushing to open up to such activities, such as the spaceport opening up in Oklahoma)
• Money: Other insurers will give you a million in third party liability for ten times what Xcor paid, without too much hassle. It took me about 5 hours work over 3 weeks to get an insurance quote for a commercial rocket development program elsewhere in California.

If you are poor and far from Mojave, however, it can get hard.

I imagine that meeting OSHA standards alone would be a non-trivial barrier to starting such a company

I don't know of anyone in the industry who's working with seriously toxic materials or propellants.

We're just crazy, not insane.