A recent article on Parabolic Arc <http://www.parabolicarc.com/2019/02/01/cumberland-island-homes-association-opposes-spaceport-camden-plan/> concerning Camden County’s application to become a launch site started me thinking about what the rules are concerning launches over populated areas. The article states there are more than 60 homes at risk and the home owners are clearly opposed to the whole idea.
Are there any strict guidelines or rules of thumb concerning how high a rocket needs to be before it is considered to be a minimal threat to populated areas? I searched the forums but can’t find anything and searching the FAA website provided a number of studies and papers but most of them are hundreds of pages long and I freely admit I haven’t bothered to read through them all. I also noticed some of the papers are dated back to the mid-1990’s.
Spaceport America and other sites have already gone through a review, but even in that case, does a launch license cover any type of vertical launcher?
Thanks
Discussed previously. This is the first useful link when I searched:
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=45623.msg1858855#msg1858855 "It is called "instantaneous impact point" (IIP). There is a point where if something goes wrong and the engines cut out, then the rocket (or its debris) will land on one of those locations. "
Massively discussed to do with posited SX SS/SH (was BFS then) overflight of Cuba, and the previous historical case of a rocket part killing a Cuban cow!!!!
I don't know if SX's "Dogleg Park" property acquisition co. is named after the dogleg some commentators claim is needed to not overfly Cuba from Boca Chica!!! probably not.
... Are there any strict guidelines or rules of thumb concerning how high a rocket needs to be before it is considered to be a minimal threat to populated areas? ...
No; more complex than that. See
CFR Part 417; specifically
Subpart C—Flight Safety Analysis and related.
... Spaceport America and other sites have already gone through a review, but even in that case, does a launch license cover any type of vertical launcher?
No. FAA launch site, launch operator and launch specific licenses are very different. An FAA launch site operator license (LSO) is not a license to launch anything. To actually launch something, you still need an FAA launch license operator (LLO), or launch license specific (LLS), or a permit from FAA.