"To promote the development of commercial human spaceflight, pursue ever higher levels of safety, and share best practices and expertise throughout the industry."[1]
The Commercial Spaceflight Federation is a private spaceflight industry group, incorporated as an industry association for the purposes of establishing ever higher levels of safety for the commercial human spaceflight industry, sharing best practices and expertise, and promoting the growth of the industry worldwide.[2][3][4] Issues that the Commercial Spaceflight Federation works on include, but are not limited to, airspace issues, FAA regulations and permits, industry safety standards, public outreach, and public advocacy for the commercial space sector.[5][6]
History
In 2005, Peter Diamandis and John Gedmark from the X Prize Foundation convened a group of leaders in the emerging personal spaceflight industry, held at SpaceX's headquarters in El Segundo, California. Attendees at the meeting included SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Virgin Galactic's Alex Tai, aviation pioneer Burt Rutan, businessman Robert Bigelow, and entrepreneur John Carmack.[7] The goal of what was then called the Personal Spaceflight Federation was to "design and uphold the standards and processes necessary to ensure public safety and promote growth of the personal spaceflight industry."[8]
On August 22, 2006, the PSF laid out their priorities as:[9]
Member Coordination
Government Interface
Both with Congress and other federal agencies in order "to develop a legal and regulatory environment supportive of the growth of the human spaceflight industry."
Safety in spaceport operations, crew and passenger training, and vehicle manufacture, operations, and maintenance
Safety was highlighted as the most important concern for the PSF because safety was the common link between all the member companies
Insurance
Public Relations
On June 15, 2008, the Personal Spaceflight Federation announced a new website and a new name—the Commercial Spaceflight Federation—to emphasize "the diverse business activities of the commercial human spaceflight industry."[10] The areas the CSF now represented include:
On August 10, 2009, CSF announced the creation of the Suborbital Applications Research Group (SARG).[11] On February 18, 2010, the CSF announced a new research and education affiliates program.[12]
CSF has hosted the CST Commercial Space Transportation Conference in partnership with the FAA since 2017.[17]
Lobbying efforts
The Commercial Spaceflight Federation lobbied for passage of the 2015 Commercial Space Bill.[18]
Former Commercial Spaceflight Federation President Eric Stallmer testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Science, Space, and Competitiveness on February 24, 2015[19]
Karina Drees testified before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee titled "Space Situational Awareness, Space Traffic Management, and Orbital Debris: Examining Solutions for Emerging Threats" on July 22, 2021.[26]
The Commercial Spaceflight Federation has two organizing committees as well as several working groups composed of their members and staff that are working to address the most pressing issues facing the industry. Participation in these committees is open to Executive and Associate members.[28]
Legislative
The Legislative Committee works to secure funding for civil space activities, NASA, the Office of Space Commerce, and FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST). Additionally, it seeks to work with congressional offices and committees to implement programmatic and language requests that establish and benefit programs that utilize commercial industry.
Regulatory
CSF's Regulatory Committee collaborates to prepare information for and present a united position to regulators across the USG, ensuring that regulation does not needlessly hinder the advancement of the commercial space industry. To this end, the Regulatory Committee ensures that commercial perspectives are included in the regulation and standards development process to ensure the safety of spaceflight participants and provide the FAA and FCC with means of compliance.
The Committee also works with industry experts from a variety of government agencies (including The Departments of State and Commerce) to promote modernization of Export Control policy and procedures in regards to the commercial space industry. The committee aims to assist American companies to remain competitive leaders in the global market and to advance innovation and technology overall. The committee also serves as a point of reference for adherence to current legislation and policy.
Spaceports
The Commercial Spaceflight Federation's Spaceports Working Group focuses on a wide variety of issues facing the spaceport community including environmental, infrastructure, and regulatory topics, as well as seeking to encourage and fund programs to support spaceports.
Membership
CSF members are responsible for the creation of thousands of high-tech jobs.[29] Members include over 85 industry organizations involved in commercial spaceflight and private spaceflight, often referred to as new space.[30]
There are four tiers of CSF membership, with each having different requirements and perks. The highest tier is Executive Membership, which is generally reserved for commercial spaceflight developers, operators, and spaceports.[31] Below Executive members are Associate Members, which is composed of suppliers supporting commercial spaceflight, with recent members including suppliers of mission support services and suppliers of training, medical and life-support products and services. The third tier of membership is called Research and Education Affiliates (REM for short), and this tier is occupied by Universities, educational and student nonprofits, and other research and education institutions. The fourth tier of CSF membership is the Patrons Program. This tier is distinct from the rest in the sense that it is composed of individuals rather than corporate entities.
Executive Members
Executive Membership is the highest level of membership offered at the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. At this level, members have an exclusive seat on the CSF Board of Directors.
The Patron Program is unique in that it allows for individual membership, unlike other membership categories, which are reserved for corporations, and organizations.[32]
Suborbital Applications Researchers Group
The Suborbital Applications Researchers Group (SARG) was created on August 10, 2009, to "increase awareness of commercial suborbital vehicles in the science and R&D communities, to work with policymakers to ensure that payloads can have easy access to these vehicles, and to further develop ideas for the uses of these vehicles for science, engineering, and education missions."[11]
Various conventions, treaties, agreements, memorandums, charters or declarations establishing and governing intergovernmental organisations or inter-agency bodies dealing with space affairs
