More Than Just Tourism in the Commercial Space Industry

As we know, the Commercial Space industry is growing. NASA has been launching supplies to the ISS via commercial operators. Companies are testing space tourism transports and entrepreneurs all over the world are trying their hand in finding a way to make money from a place very few people have ever gone.

The large growth we have seen recently is in part due to the commercialization of space becoming more manageable and attainable. New technologies and knowledge are being put to the test to get people into space and operating before other competitors can do the same. This privatization of commercial space can be a good thing. It removes costs from governments and their agencies. NASA has been a large promoter in the private sector of space. With the retirement of the STS, American Astronauts have been dependent on Russia for a ride to the space station. That trip for one astronaut is currently priced at $70 million (Martin, 2014).  NASA has also payed over $7 billion in contracts to Boeing and SpaceX who are currently developing new launch systems to get American astronauts into space within the next few years. In regards to the outsourcing of developing a launch system, it's a first for NASA. They certainly still have insight into the production, but their branding isn't going to be the one stamped on the side of the finished product. 

In addition to the large sum of money spent on contracts for a new launch system a very large amount of money has been spent on commercial space cargo transportation. As President Obama pledged in 2010, we (NASA) are now working with a large group of commercial space operators making space travel cheaper and more efficient. Currently NASA has more than a few contracts with cargo operators to transport goods to the ISS. A few of those operators are, but are not limited to, Orbital ATK of Dulles, Virginia; Sierra Nevada Corporation of Sparks, Nevada and SpaceX of Hawthorne, California (NASA Awards, 2016). Those companies have transported more than 35,000 lbs. of cargo to the space station.

The space industry has many more opportunities than just cargo and travel. Many companies and entrepreneurs are seeing asteroids as perfect mining sources. Some asteroids can hold valuable materials ranging in worth from $100 billion to others pushing $100 trillion (Thompson, 2016). The asteroid mining portion of the space industry would be worth trillions of dollars alone if and when it gets started. Gathering materials from asteroids is an endeavor much closer to us than one might imagine. Even though completely mining an asteroid for its resources may be a few decades down the road, we can still obtain materials and resources from them.  There is the possibility of using water found on asteroids to make fuel in space, instead of transporting it up from earth which will save much more fuel and money (Wall, 2015).

With the space industry growing all over the world, every country will have to work together to keep not only a peaceful relationship, but a friendly one. This is a lesser known subject, but a large one indeed. When and while the commercial space industry is growing larger than it is now, what policies will we adopt to keep the industry fair and safe? Will a free enterprise system work? Many of the policies here on Earth will now work in space. Many companies in any industry will cut back on certain costs because they are not seen as important costs when in reality, those cutbacks hurt employees in one way or another. That will simply not work in space (Livingston, 1999). Space should be the New Frontier. In that sense we should also explore it in a new way. Creating the safest possible environment and all working together to move mankind forward would be a good thing to remember.  

References

Livingston, D. M. (1999, August 14). The Ethical Commercialization of Outer Space. In Space Future. Retrieved from http://www.spacefuture.com/archive/the_ethical_commercialization_of_outer_space.shtml

Martin, K. (2014, December 2). The business of space: Exploring the new commercial space economy. In Aljazeera America. Retrieved from http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/real-money-with-alivelshi/articles/2014/12/2/the-business-of-spaceexploringthenewcommercialspaceeconomy.html

NASA Awards International Space Station Cargo Transport Contracts (2016, January 14). In NASA. Retrieved from http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-awards-international-space-station-cargo-transport-contracts

Thompson, C. (2016, January 14). Space Mining Could Set Off a Star War. In Wired. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/2016/01/clive-thompson-11/

Wall, M. (2015, August 11). Asteroid Mining May Be a Reality by 2025. In Space.com. Retrieved from http://www.space.com/30213-asteroid-mining-planetary-resources-2025.html

NTSB and their Most Wanted Changes to Aviation

Every year brings a new list of the NTSB's most wanted. These most wanted are the changes to the transportation industry that they have deemed most important at the time. The list of 5 consists of cockpit image recorders, preventing loss of control in flight, fatigue related accidents, reducing distractions and medical fitness.

I believe that preventing loss of control should be the first priority on the most wanted list. The NTSB says that between 2001 and 2011 over 40 % of general aviation fixed wing fatal accidents occurred because of the pilots' lost of control (Prevent Loss of Control, NTSB). This is very common with pilots failing to see an oncoming spin or stall while in IMC. Presently, pilots will need a bi-annual flight review to keep their certificate current. Having only one check or flight every two years is not nearly enough practice to keep any sort of skilled honed to the level needed, especially with flying. There should be some changes made, calling for more required flight time or more training throughout the two years to keep flying skills and knowledge up to date.

Fatigue related accidents are of no surprise to the aviation community. Fatigue has been a heavy issue with aviation for quite some time and there have been improvements made, but not nearly as much as should be required from the industry. Over 42% of U.S. drivers have admitted to falling asleep at the wheel at least one time in their lifetime (Reduce Fatigue-Related Accidents, NTSB). Fatigue is common in all industries, especially in the U.S. where citizens work the most hours per week over other industrialized countries. Recently there have been regulations passed allowing more rest time for flight crews, but those regulations do not adhere to all working pilots in the industry. It also doesn't account for crew members not following fixed sleep schedules and the possibility of sleeping in a new environment every trip.

The third item on the most wanted list should be the reduction of distracting devices. PEDs are becoming more permanently fixed in our lives and we can never seem to get away from them. People driving and operating in the transportation industry need to realize that those little devices take our minds too far off of the situation at hand and cause us to become a danger to everybody around.

Fourth on the list should be medical fitness. The aviation industry has a strict medical screening for pilots which will be hard to add even more screening to. Certainly, some diseases and medical issues will be very hard if not impossible to detect at times, but those are rare cases. By producing an even more difficult medical examination process which will possibly not yield many results all while possibly restricting pilots who are fit to fly is not what the industry needs.

Lastly, cockpit image recorders should not be implemented into cockpits. With FDRs and CVRs pilots are already being heavily monitored during their time on duty. Having an image recording device always watching over you as well can become very stressful. To me, that creates the sensation of my boss always staring over my shoulder which will lead to a higher stress levels and a stronger possibility of mistakes being made. The use of FDRs and CVRs can already give us a clear view of what was going on in the cockpit. Is adding thousands of image recording devices to aircraft to always be glaring at our pilots a very good idea? I believe that to be a worse distraction than PEDs by the fact that you will always have the thought of somebody watching you through that camera on top of the company, your coworkers, the FAA and the rest of the industry.

One thing that should be added to the list is environmental and technology changes. Right now, the aviation industry will have to wait years or even decades for new technologies to be implemented. By the time they are moved into the industry, those technologies are obsolete. We need to find a way to remove or aid in shortening the time to approve technologies that do work and removing those that do not. It is time for aviation to be a leader in technology instead of always following close behind.

References

Prevent Loss of Control in Flight in General Aviation. (n.d.). In National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved April 7, 2016, from http://www.ntsb.gov/safety/mwl/Pages/mwl7_2015.aspx

Reduce Fatigue-Related Accidents. (n.d.). In National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved April 7, 2016, from http://www.ntsb.gov/safety/mwl/Pages/mwl1-2016.aspx

Aviation Organizations

There are many aviation organizations out there. Many of these organizations are well known for taking a strong stance on their beliefs of what aviation should be. They cover the industry from general aviation all of the way to the airline pilots and beyond. Aviation organizations focus on informing there members of current events and protecting them in the advent of needing protection.

One organization I plan on joining is AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association). They focus on growing and supporting general aviation in all ways they can. They believe that the right to fly should belong to everyone and AOPA fights to give everyone an opportunity to access it (Mission and History, 2016).  AOPA was incorporated on May 15, 1939 and have been promoting and improving general aviation for pilots and the industry ever since. Since general aviation brought me to where I am at today, I would prefer to give back what I can and help others find their way in the field.

Another leader in the aviation industry would be the Air Line Pilots Association. ALPA focuses on leading in safety and protecting airline pilots (What We Do, 2016). Their focus is to promote the health and welfare of all members before any governmental body.  They have negotiated hundreds of contracts with federal agencies and will continued that for a long time into the future. ALPA has a large member community coming in at over 52,000 pilots and 30+ airlines (What We Do, 2016).

These organizations want to improve the industry they are a part of. Not only safety, but organizational structures and knowledge of the industry. There are roughly 600,000 certified pilots in the U.S. and AOPA's U.S. member count in 2012 was around 375,000. Certainly, not all of those members are certified pilots, but that goes to show that there are a lot of people who care about the general aviation community and believe AOPA can help make a difference. Both ALPA and AOPA will continue to change and move to change the industry as how the people working and living in it need. I want to be a part of an organization that will help protect me by driving for the highest in safety and development of piloting skill and decision making.

References

AOPA, . (2012, April). IAOPA Statistical Report. Retrieved from http://www.iaopa.org/what-is-general-aviation/statistics/2012-iaopa-stats.pdf

Mission and History of AOPA (n.d.). In AOPA. Retrieved from http://www.aopa.org/About-AOPA/Governance/Mission-and-History-of-AOPA

What We Do (n.d.). In Air Line Pilots Association, International. Retrieved April 2, 2016, from http://www.alpa.org/about-alpa/what-we-do

Not Just Boeing and Airbus Leading Commercial Aviation?

As you may know, Airbus and Boeing will soon have some more competition brought into their commercial aviation monopoly. China's new aircraft, the C919 produced by Comac is scheduled to be delivered in 2018. Currently it is not certified by the FAA, but the airplane is still in its early stages. I am certain it will be certified before 2020. The airplane will be a direct competitor to Airbus's A320 and Boeing's 737 so I am sure if it is placed at a competitive price companies will be purchasing it.

Once certified, I think one of the challenges U.S. carriers with service using the Chinese aircraft will see is a shortage or price increase for parts regarding. There will have to be U.S. companies manufacturing the parts to specifications or more importations from the Chinese. Even though that may be an issue in the beginning, Comac hopes to sell 2,000 aircraft in the next 20 years (Jiang, 2015). As long as the aircraft manufacturing goes well and there aren't any large issues with it after manufacturing it should be a pretty simple feat, especially when they already have 517 orders before the first test flight.

In regards to the public perception of the new Chinese aircraft, I don't think it will be bad towards the new airplane. Airbus has been operating in the U.S. for years and hundreds of people choose to fly them every day. As long as there are not any large issues with the airplane I don't see any issues with it being accepted into the NAS.

Comac's C919 is part of a seven year mandated drive to restrict China's reliance on foreign imports. The company also has a smaller jet, the ARJ, that is far behind schedule, but there nonetheless (First China-made passenger, 2015). They also have a large body aircraft, the C929 in the works, but those aircraft seem like they aren't the priority.

I think many countries will love the competition that will in turn drive down aircraft costs and hopefully raise their profits. It will be an interesting thing to see as a new commercial airliner competitor comes to the market.

References

First China-made passenger jet leaves production line (2015, November 2). In Aljazeera. Retrieved from http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/11/china-passenger-jet-leaves-production-line-151102054428051.html

Jiang, S. (2015, November 2). China to take on Boeing, Airbus with homegrown C919 passenger jet. In CNN. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/02/asia/china-new-c919-passenger-jet/index.html

Regional Airlines and Professionalism in the Industry

It is well known that the aviation industry is and has been feeling the effects of the anticipated pilot shortage. Thousands of pilots are needed to be hired in the next few years. The regional airline industry is the largest in need of these pilots. It is also known that the starting pay for regionals is very low with high work hours and minimal benefits. The industry has known that the shortage was coming for many years, but nothing changed. The pilot shortage is definitely a real thing, but there is an argument on the true cause of it. I think that it truly is a shortage and there are not enough pilots to fill the cockpits, but regional airline pay and professionalism may have some sort of blame to this. They have been growing very quickly in the past two decades and haven't given much to pilot's other than more work hours to include on their already overworked schedule. Recently there have been a few pay increases which will make the industry a little more manageable (Fact and Fallacy, 2016).

The regional industry's lifestyle towards pilots may have been what put them in this shortage in the first place. Without any sort of returnable pay after these pilots spend upwards of $100,000 or more on training a $20,000 starting salary does not sound very appealing. With the regional airlines flying more than half of the domestic U.S. routes there should have been some planning to make their industry more appealing for incoming pilots to come to them (Leocha, 2010). The easiest problem to see is pay, but on top of that there are benefits, workday hours, and company respect.

There is definitely an actual shortage of pilots in the industry, especially with so many retiring in the next few years. Those pilots retiring from the mainlines will open positions to the pilots high in seniority in the regionals and drain the pilot roster from the bottom. There will strictly not be enough pilots to continue flying all of the routes. Although this is not only a problem with the shortage of pilots. The regional carriers have grown too quickly and have not created an incentive to bring more pilots in. Flight school is a very, very expensive venture to undertake. As a flight student I can personally accord to that. The Regional Airlines Association has been trying to encourage students at the high school and collegiate level to try aviation with incentives such as bridge programs and gateway programs to get them to the regional airlines quicker (The Coming U.S. Pilot, 2015). That is a good start, but what they should really be doing is giving opportunities such as training cost compensation for guaranteed pilots or more competitive and attractive salaries to get more certified pilots to want to join the ranks in the first place.

Professionalism is having a quality and skill expected for a task that will also represent a company in a desirable manner. Pilots should take better care to their training/aircraft knowledge and know that it will directly relate to their personal and passengers' safety. An airline's management has to understand that pilots are only human and will make mistakes, but those mistakes can be exponentially increased when they are working long hours in less than satisfactory environments. It is also management's responsibility to ensure the quality of the training given to pilots is in compliance with the industry's standards and that pilots are fully capable of maintaining safe flight.

I certainly feel that low pilot pay has some cause in the lack of professionalism in the industry. Regional pilots (many of them) see the regional carriers as stepping stones to the major carriers. They want to spend as little time as they can with the regionals and hop up to the "real" airlines. If regional carriers showed that their outlook on air travel was the same as the majors or even beyond the regional airline industry would quickly change for the better. I certainly will be trying to have the mindset to learn something new everyday. Even if you fly the same route over and over, small things will change day to day and give new opportunities and openings to see and learn things from a different perspective. The aviation industry is changing and the people on the bottom of the [seniority] list will have to decide where they want it to go.

References

Fact and Fallacy of the "Pilot Shortage" (2016, March 3). In Patrick Smith's Ask The Pilot. Retrieved from http://www.askthepilot.com/pilot-shortage/

Leocha, C. (2010, March 12). Regional airlines with 2nd-class safety fly most domestic routes, more coming. In United Travelers. Retrieved from https://travelersunited.org/today/regional-airlines-with-2nd-class-safety-fly-most-domestic-routes-more-coming/

The Coming U.S. Pilot Shortage Is Real (2015, February 16). In Aviation Week. Retrieved from http://aviationweek.com/commercial-aviation/coming-us-pilot-shortage-real

Commercial Space: Here to Stay or to Pass?

Space tourism has been a growing form or tourism since the 1960's. It began shortly after or even during the end of WWII during introduction of jet aircraft. This led to high altitude competition and speed records far beyond the speed of sound. All of these endeavors were new, reaching new altitudes and new speeds far surpassing any speed a person has gone before. In the advent of the Cold War the Soviet Union and the United States began the Space Race to get the first man into space and then beyond, to the Moon. We (everybody) had no knowledge of how the human body would react to the new environment of space, but we found a way. In the 1960's we had the Mercury missions and the Apollo Mission, being the most well known. Soon after with the knowledge from those missions and that of the X-15 the space shuttle was introduced. Ever since the retirement of the space shuttle we have been looking at new ways and new missions for future spaceflight. In the 1980's the commercial side of spaceflight was regulated with the Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984 in regards to regulation spacecraft launches, flights and reentry (FAA, In Office of Commercial Space). Modern commercial spaceflight is seeing the implementation of commercial spaceflight with paying passengers, where passengers can board a space-plane and take their turn at experiencing the world from above 327,000 ft.

The industry isn't greatly regulated other than the fact that the FAA has said that it has a say in everything being done in the industry such as possibly creating new or alternate requirements for a specific mission. It is a hard thing for the FAA to regulate being an entirely new industry. There will certainly be a learning curve  as the industry continues to grow.

I see commercial spaceflight growing very quickly in the next 35 years and even more beyond that. Passenger travel into space is here to stay. I believe it will be much more than something to check off of your bucket list, with the possibility of cooperation between governmental space programs and commercial programs to explore even more of space. It is even stated that use of the International Space Station is encouraged in Subchapter II, Section 50111 in Title 51 of the U.S. Code (Commercialization of Space Station).

The minimum requirements for becoming an astronaut may surprise you. You will need a bachelors degree in engineering, science or similar degrees, U.S. citizenship, 1,000 hrs of PIC jet time and to pass a pretty strict medical examination. These are only the minimums though as you most likely will need much more experience before you get accepted (Harris, How do I become).

Commercial spaceflight is going to grow very quickly by 2050 and even more so space exploration. I am very curious to where we will be able to send people in my lifetime and as to what will be discovered about the universe with it.

References

Commercialization of Space Station (n.d.). In Subtitle V—Programs Targeting Commercial Opportunities. Retrieved from http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml;jsessionid=9BF6A4E8B8A5FE534EE9ADD6EC06E1FE?req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title51-subtitle5&saved=L3ByZWxpbUB0aXRsZTUxL3N1YnRpdGxlNS9jaGFwdGVyNTA5%7CZ3JhbnVsZWlkOlVTQy1

FAA, . (n.d.). In Office of Commercial Space Transportation Regulations. Retrieved from https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/regulations/

Harris, W. (n.d.). How do I become an astronaut?. In How Stuff Works. Retrieved March 13, 2016, from http://science.howstuffworks.com/question5341.htm

Airlines and Government: Together or Separate?

A quickly growing conflict between foreign airlines and domestic carriers has been in the aviation spotlight for some time now. The argument on whether some foreign carriers receiving government subsidies under the Open Skies policy is in fact allowed under Open Skies. It is no secret that foreign carriers are receiving government aid as Qatar Airways has confirmed that it has received free land worth $452 million from the government while Emirates has allowed the Investment Corporation of Dubai to acquire their fuel hedging contracts (Emirates Confirms, 2015). They have also reported that the government has subsidized the cost of the terminal building that are exclusive use for Emirates. The U.S. airlines state that they are happy to compete with other companies, but not when their countries' agreements are being broken (Emirates Confirms, 2015).

These government assistance projects are in no way fair to the U.S. carriers trying to compete in the same market. Especially when foreign carriers are moving into the U.S. with rates that no domestic carrier can compete at. Some examples of U.S. carriers receiving governmental subsidies would be Transcontinental and Western Air and United, flying airmail routes in the 1920's and 30's. Although they received government aid, which was needed at the time to start and grow aviation, was a long time ago and well before large international flights were available and before countries came together and decided that airlines would have a free market and not be aided by a government. That is largely different than foreign governments quickly spending billions of dollars and starting up three major international airlines with the largest and most modern aircraft as well as airports to go with them.

The Open Skies agreement was signed by the U.S. and Qatar in 2001 and the United Arab Emirates in 2002 (Laing, 2015). It only took a couple of years to see that those airlines were quickly receiving government aid. There are many groups that claim the U.S. is only accusing the foreign airlines of breaching the agreement out of fear of competing with them. The gulf airlines even stated that the U.S. airlines need to do a better job of competing (Not a fair, 2015).

On top of government assistance it is also possible that foreign airlines are receiving large discounts on aircraft that domestic carriers cannot receive. This is possible through the Export-Import Bank. Foreign airlines need a governmental guarantee when purchasing an aircraft because they are such large loans. These loans will then have a lower interest rate in turn saving them money which can be put forward to purchasing more aircraft or lowing ticket prices while domestic carriers are out of luck (Weisman, 2015). Boeing says that the Export-Import Bank is crucial to foreign sales because of the competition with Airbus. Without the Export-Import Bank many carriers may move on to Airbus and leave Boeing behind.

I don't believe that the international air carrier operations are fair across the board. With so much aid from their governments, foreign carriers are at such an advantage to the U.S.'s counterparts. That on top of the Export-Import savings for foreign carriers is completely unfair. It will be interesting to see where these conflicts take the aviation industry in the next few years and whether or not the U.S. airlines will stay or leave international routes if the foreign carriers and their governmental assistance remain intact. As well as the foreign carriers growth to domestic U.S. routes.

References

Emirates Confirms Billions in Government Subsidy for Airport Terminal (2015, August 27). In Pr Newswire. Retrieved from http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/emirates-confirms-billions-in-government-subsidy-for-airport-terminal-300134208.html

Laing, K. (2015, March 12). Airlines: Foreign subsidies are destroying flight competition. In The Hill. Retrieved from http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/235543-airlines-foreign-subsidies-destroying-flight-competition

Not a fair flight: Why U.S. airlines are upset over Gulf States' subsidies (2015, April 21). In Chicago Tribune. Retrieved from http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-openskies-airlines-united-delta-american-edit-0422-jm-20150421-story.html

Weisman, J., & Lipton, E. (2015, April 6). Boeing and Delta Spend Millions in Fight Over Export-Import Bank’s Existence. InThe New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/07/business/boeing-delta-air-lines-export-import-bank.html?_r=0