NASA Procedural Requirements

NPR 8715.5B Effective Date: February 02, 2018 Expiration Date: August 02, 2024

Subject: Range Flight Safety Program

Responsible Office: Office of Safety and Mission Assurance

Chapter 1. Program Overview

1.1 Introduction

1.1.1 NASA operates and uses ranges for the purpose of launching, flying, landing, recovering, and testing space and aeronautical vehicles and associated technologies. These activities, referred to in this NPR as range flight operations, often present hazards which can pose significant risk to life and property. This NPR defines the NASA Range Flight Safety Program for protecting the public, NASA workforce, and property during range operations associated with flight.

1.1.2 The key technical objectives for the Range Flight Safety Program are:

a. Ensure each NASA range operation associated with flight undergoes a range safety risk analysis to establish any design or operational constraints needed to control hazards and risks to life and property.

b. Contain or mitigate the risk to the public, NASA workforce, and any property requiring protection from debris impact or other hazards associated with vehicle flight.

c. Ensure proper risk acceptance decisions are made that integrate concerns for all identified hazards for the range flight operation and ensure Agency risk criteria are satisfied.

d. Ensure launch/flight commit criteria for a range flight operation are identified and dispositioned prior to initiation of flight or phase of flight (to include entry, landing, and recovery operations).

e. Make real-time operational decisions, when required (e.g., flight termination) to control risk. These occur prior to initiation of flight, prior to each phase of flight, and during flight up to orbital insertion and during recovery.

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