Amateur rocketry is getting a closer look from federal regulators as technological advances boost the most sophisticated amateur rockets higher into the air – and even toward space.
It’s a sign of how far amateur rocket launches have come. Aerospace more broadly has opened up to private entrepreneurs such as Burt Rutan, whose SpaceShipOne became the first privately manned rocket to reach space in 2004.
Amateur rocketry, too, has come closer to reaching levels once reserved for government-funded professionals.
As a result, the Federal Aviation Administration felt its regulations for amateur rocketry were outdated, said spokesman Hank Price. The agency has proposed new rules.
That has some small-time rocket hobbyists worried that they’ll be subjected to increased scrutiny as well.
“Because of the improvements in technologies, the rockets have gotten more powerful,” Price said.
The agency said in its proposal that it receives airspace-waiver requests for launches of rockets that can reach 328,000 feet, “approaching altitudes where they could pose a threat to objects in orbit.”
Amateur rocket performance “has continued to improve and participation in amateur rocket launches has increased significantly,” according to the FAA. “The capability of rockets has advanced to a level far greater than contemplated by existing regulation.”
Among those who have made building and launching model rockets and high-power rockets a popular hobby in Colorado, most are happy to reach several thousand feet in altitude up to about 20,000 feet above ground level.
Rocket launches to much higher altitudes are done in places such as Black Rock Desert in Nevada.
Jason Unwin, president of the Southern Colorado Rocketeers, said he’s concerned that for certain types of rockets, the FAA may require clubs to report how many will be flown at their events.
“A lot of times, you don’t really know that until the guy shows up at the range,” Unwin said. Heretofore, the events have been casual, with people showing up as they please.
The proposed reporting requirements could make it “onerous, more than a hobby. It becomes work,” said rocketeer John Wilke.
The FAA’s proposed rules for amateur rocket activities have received some praise.
Federal rules may be “tweaked”
Ky Michaelson, a Minnesota amateur who launched a rocket 72 miles up from the Black Rock Desert in Nevada in 2004, said “it has to be controlled, to a certain extent, because if there’s a bad accident, then we’re really going to be looked down on and really going to be scrutinized.”
Ben Russell, director of Tripoli Research at the Tripoli Rocketry Association, which focuses on high-power rocketry, is optimistic that the FAA will be receptive to concerns expressed during a comment period lasting through Sept. 12 and that rules will be “tweaked a little bit.”
“As a self-regulated hobby, we’ve done a great job keeping away from aircraft and not posing a threat to aircraft or people on the ground,” Unwin said.
While the term “amateur rocketry” often is used to describe those building rockets with steel or aluminum airframes that cost thousands of dollars or more and are far beyond hobby rocketry, the FAA’s amateur-rocketry category includes everything from small model rockets to advanced high-power rockets.
High-power rocketry is a popular hobby for “born-again rocketeers” – adults who launched model rockets as kids and become interested in the hobby with bigger and more powerful rockets later in life.
“It’s not unusual for members to go to 25,000 feet, 30,000 feet. That was not true five years ago, but it is true today. Technology is moving along,” Russell said.
Some rocket hobbyists also are concerned about requirements from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to secure a permit to buy and store ammonium perchlorate composite propellant because it is categorized as an explosive.
The National Association of Rocketry and the Tripoli Rocketry Association filed suit saying ammonium perchlorate should not be characterized as an explosive, and they are awaiting a ruling.
The issue drew attention after Sept. 11, 2001. Some legislators pointed to a possibility that terrorists could accumulate large amounts of explosives.
Kevin Wickart, the public affairs director of the National Association of Rocketry, said one concern is that kids interested in rocketry who learn about the requirements and cost involved may become discouraged.
“What we’re trying to avoid with overregulation … is regulating the hobby out of existence,” he said.
Staff writer Kelly Yamanouchi can be reached at 303-954-1488 or kyamanouchi@denverpost.com.
