this post was submitted on 21 Sep 2023
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Did you know that the FAA has re-entry licences? Neither did Varda (arstechnica.com)
submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/spaceflight
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I'd seen the story about a spacecraft making a drug in microgravity and planning to land it in the US.

However, the recovery of Varda's capsule is on hold after the Federal Aviation Administration and the US Air Force recently declined to give Varda approval to land its spacecraft in a remote part of Utah. TechCrunch first reported the FAA turned down Varda's application for a commercial reentry license.

"Varda Space Industries launched its vehicle into space without a reentry license," an FAA spokesperson told Ars on Wednesday. "The FAA denied the Varda reentry license application on September 6 because the company did not demonstrate compliance with the regulatory requirements."

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

As You999 put it, "the laws of the country that the craft is registered still applies". I hadn't heard the term "the Chicago Convention". I've heard only "The Outer Space Treaty", or formally Treaty on principles governing the activities of states in the exploration and use of outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies. Specifically Article VIII:

A State Party to the Treaty on whose registry an object launched into outer space is carried shall retain jurisdiction and control over such object, and over any personnel thereof, while in outer space or on a celestial body. Ownership of objects launched into outer space, including objects landed or constructed on a celestial body, and of their component parts, is not affected by their presence in outer space or on a celestial body or by their return to the Earth. Such objects or component parts found beyond the limits of the State Party of the Treaty on whose registry they are carried shall be returned to that State Party, which shall, upon request, furnish identifying data prior to their return.

Could Varda actually land the capsule? I presume so (the whole thing is a moot point if they can't). Would the FAA (and, for all I know, other agencies) land on them like a pile of bricks? I certainly hope so!