Ledyard King

FLORIDA TODAY

WASHINGTON – Two high-profile mishaps involving private spacecraft last week have sparked new debate about whether the government should increase its oversight and regulation of a fledgling industry tackling complicated, risky ventures.

But commercial space advocates say Congress and the administration shouldn't view the unrelated accidents — one involving a rocket launch to the International Space Station, the other a space tourism vehicle — as an invitation to clamp down on a sector that needs as much nurturing as it does supervision.

That's especially true while the causes of the accidents are still being determined, they say.

Different agencies were involved in the accidents. The launch of Orbital Sciences' Antares rocket in Virginia was closely overseen by NASA, though the launch was licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration. The test flight of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo was licensed by the FAA with no direct involvement by NASA. That accident killed one of the space plane's pilots and seriously injured the other.

And both involved different levels of oversight.

The rocket launch was tightly regulated by the space agency because it used a government launch pad and carried government supplies bound for a government lab. The test flight of a space tourism vehicle, by contrast, required about the same level of FAA attention that the agency gives test flights of commercial airliners.

Eric Stallmer, president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, said the private space industry remains a safely run sector. He called the two accidents in the space of three days "a terrible coincidence," and said he can't think of any new rule or additional oversight that would have prevented either mishap.

"The system worked," said Stallmer, whose trade group represents some of the most prominent players, including Virgin Galactic, in the new space industry. "I don't know how much more at this stage of the game you can regulate the industry."

Both incidents are on Congress' radar. And while hearings are inevitable, they could lead to overreaction by lawmakers, said John Logsdon, former director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University.

Both accidents "were very visible," he said. "One person got killed. You just can't walk away from that. I would like to be optimistic enough to think that the response will be measured and thoughtful, but I'm not an optimist."

The House Science, Space and Technology Committee is already considering hearings on the accidents.

"I have been briefed by those involved in both ongoing investigations and will continue to monitor progress," said Republican Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, who chairs the panel. "I place the highest priority on getting independent, thorough and responsible feedback on these incidents."

It's less clear what the Senate will do because control of the chamber will flip from Democrats to Republicans in January.

Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, who chairs the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee's space panel, said he doesn't believe many of his colleagues will rush to judgment.

"I don't think a lot of folks in Congress would be sufficiently informed to know what to do," he said.

The accidents occurred following a string of impressive accomplishments by private aerospace firms since NASA retired the space shuttle in 2011 and began relying more on the commercial sector, partly because of a shrinking budget.

Orbital Science had successfully delivered cargo twice to the space station before the Oct. 28 explosion. SpaceX, the other company hired by NASA to transport supplies and equipment, transported cargo to the orbiting lab in September — the fourth delivery without incident. SpaceX also has been chosen as one of two firms (the other is Boeing) to develop a vehicle to carry astronauts to the space station.

Spaceports have begun popping up around the country as companies like Virgin Galactic hope to take advantage of public fascination with a trip to suborbital space.

Both companies involved in the mishaps are vowing to find out what went wrong and move on.

Orbital Sciences, working with NASA and the FAA to investigate the incident, said it plans to develop a replacement for the Aerojet Rocketdyne AJ26 engine, which initially appears to be the source of the launch failure. The firm pledged to complete its cargo deliveries to the space station by the end of 2016 at "no cost increase to NASA." Orbital has said it considering two U.S. companies and one from Europe as potential launchers of one or two Cygnus cargo spacecraft.

While Orbital didn't identify the companies, the U.S. providers presumably are SpaceX and United Launch Alliance, either of which would fly from Cape Canaveral.

Virgin Galactic said it's determined to forge ahead with plans to take tourists to space once an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board is complete and fixes are made.

Initial findings indicate that accident may have happened after one pilot prematurely unlocked the vehicle's "feathering" mechanism that turns the wing booms into position for re-entry.

Stallmer, who's been communicating with lawmakers, their aides and government regulators, said he's pleasantly surprised there hasn't been a stampede to overhaul current rules.

"I think they're waiting for the dust to settle, for the answers to come out of the investigation and take it from there," he said.

"There's a better understanding that the two events were completely separate and these things occasionally happen. It's how we react to it that will help us go forward."

Even if they wanted to reduce commercial space funding and return to the days of large government NASA programs, budget realities would dictate otherwise — especially under a Republican Congress.

"If NASA had unlimited dollars, things may be different," Stallmer said. "But they don't."

Contact Ledyard King at lking@gannett.com; Twitter: @ledgeking