FAA issues Compliance and Enforcement Bulletin on UAS

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a Compliance and Enforcement Bulletin, to guide its personnel on enforcement actions against Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and model aircraft operators, who violate FAA rules by endangering the safety of the US National Airspace System (NAS). The most interesting part of the Bulletin refers to sanction determination.

Court rejects SNC’s motion to reinstate hold on CCtCap

The US Court of Federal Claims rejected a motion filed by Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) against NASA’s decision to proceed with the contracts awarded to Boeing and Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) in the framework of the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) program, despite pending review from the General Accountability Office (GAO).

AWST reveals selection criteria for CCtCap

The aerospace magazine Aviation Week and Space Technology (AWST) reports that an internal document by William Gerstenmaier, NASA’s Associate Administrator, sheds light to the selection criteria that NASA used to award to Boeing and Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) contracts on Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap), in order to transport NASA astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) as of 2017. The main criteria were the maturity of concepts proposed and the degree of risk to schedule.

Independent Enquiry Board announces causes for failed Galileo Launch

Last week, the Independent Inquiry Board (“the Board”), entrusted with the task to examine the exact causes that led to the orbital injection anomaly of Galileo satellites 5 and 6 on August 22, announced its definite conclusions. The Board reported that the anomaly occurred during the flight of the launcher’s fourth stage, the Fregat. Its main cause was a deficiency in the system thermal analysis performed during the design stage.

FAA and UAS: Recent developments

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that it has granted regulatory exemptions to six aerial photo and video production companies to use Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in the US National Aerospace System (NAS). In a parallel development, the FAA has been reported to have issued an email to the industry requiring all commercial UAS to bear an aircraft registration number when applying for a regulatory exemption.