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 3. NASA Range Flight Operations

3.1 Center Requirements

3.1.1 Center Directors shall maintain and implement documented range flight safety processes and standards to ensure compliance with this NPR, NASA-STD-8719.25, and applicable laws and regulations and to ensure that the risks to the public, NASA workforce, and property are mitigated to an acceptable level.

3.1.2 Center Directors shall annually inform the Chief, SMA, of the state of the Range Flight Safety Program at their Center, including performance indicators and risks to the satisfactory implementation of range flight safety responsibilities defined in this NPR.

Note: This may be achieved via existing annual reporting mechanisms such as the Annual Operating Agreement.

3.2 Range Flight Safety Standards Applicability

3.2.1 NASA Program Managers shall notify the CRFSL of planned range flight operations as soon as possible once the operation is identified.

3.2.2 NASA Program Managers, with concurrence from the CRFSL, shall determine the applicability of NASA-STD-8719.25 to the specific project and operations in accordance with Table 3-1.

3.2.3 NASA Program Managers shall document and implement a Range Safety Risk Management Process plan consistent with this NPR, NASA-STD-8719.25, and requirements imposed by the range.

3.2.4 NASA Program Managers shall obtain concurrences and approval of the Range Safety Risk Management Process plan, and for any future changes, from the authorities defined in Table 3-1.

Table 3 1. Standard Applicability and Approval Designation

*Vehicles – Launch Vehicles, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAVs), etc. falling under P.2 Applicability (1).

3.3 Range Safety Risk Management Process

3.3.1 NASA Program Managers shall ensure that each NASA range flight operation undergoes a range safety risk analysis to establish any design or operational constraints needed to control risk to the public, NASA workforce, and property, in accordance with NASA-STD-8719.25.

3.3.2 NASA Program Managers shall ensure that the range safety risk analysis incorporates the applicable requirements of any range, launch site, or landing site that supports the range flight operation.

3.3.3 NASA Program Managers shall obtain concurrence on the range safety risk analysis from the CRFSL.

3.3.4 Using the results of the range safety risk analysis, the NASA Program Managers responsible for range flight operations, in coordination with cognizant range flight safety personnel, the authority responsible for the range, launch site, or landing site, and any other range users/tenants and public or private entities in the flight vicinity, shall:

a. Identify any NASA or non-NASA property in the vicinity of the flight that requires protection from potential debris impact or other accepted hazards.

Note: Local authorities and Programs are responsible for determining what property requires protection. Local authorities may have risk management requirements that apply to certain high-value equipment, assets, or other property. There may be specific property for which the Program requires risk management due to its proximity to the flight and the consequences associated with potential hazards.

b. Ensure decisions to accept risks associated with range flight operations consider risk to the public, NASA workforce, any property identified in paragraph 3.3.4 a., and the mission, including the safety of any flight crew and mission constraints.

Note: NPD 8700.1 authorizes Center Directors to consent to risk on behalf of the public in the vicinity of their Centers. NASA’s requirements for risk management and acceptance of risk to safety and mission success are documented in NPR 8000.4.

c. Make operational decisions needed to control risk to an acceptable level prior to initiation of flight or each phase of flight.

3.3.5 NASA Program Managers shall develop and maintain formal documentation that provides the details of the Range Safety Risk Management Process.

Note: This documentation may take the form of a standalone plan or consist of a compilation of Center or Project documents, such as tailored range flight safety requirements, ELS determinations, Range Flight Safety Waivers, risk mitigation procedures, launch/flight commit criteria, or review presentations. This documentation includes the risk management requirements and processes of any other organization that supports the Center or Project, such as the range, launch site, or landing site.

3.4 Flight Safety Systems

3.4.1 NASA Program Managers, subject to NASA-STD-8719.25, shall obtain a determination from the CRFSL, early in the planning stages, as to whether flight safety systems, such as a Flight Termination System (FTS) or a Contingency Management System (CMS), are required. In other cases, range authorities may separately require the implementation of such systems.

3.4.2 If the use of a FTS or CMS is required based on a determination by the CRFSL, the NASA Program Manager responsible for range flight operations shall request the designation of a qualified civil service personnel RSO/FSO from the CRFSL to operate those systems in accordance with NASA-STD-8719.25.

Note: The RSO/FSO functions are inherently governmental.

Note: For operations with small UAS with CMS capabilities, the risk assessment required per NASA-STD-8719.25 will determine whether an RSO/FSO is required during the operation.

3.4.3 If the use of a FTS or CMS is required, the NASA Program Manager responsible for range flight operations shall obtain activation criteria from the RSO/FSO.

3.4.4 NASA Program Managers shall develop and obtain concurrence from the CRFSL or designated RSO/FSO on launch and flight commit criteria to be used during range flight operations.

3.5 RSO/FSO-Monitored NASA Range Flight Operations

3.5.1 During range flight operations, RSO/FSOs assigned to monitor those operations shall perform the following real-time functions:

a. Verify that all range flight safety commit criteria are satisfied prior to initiation of flight or each phase of flight.

b. Monitor the vehicle flight trajectory, vehicle systems, flight safety systems, and the performance of the FTS and CMS, if applicable, to determine if there are any deviations which would require action by the RSO/FSO.

c. Terminate/ensure a flight is terminated when any aspect of the flight (including, but not limited to, vehicle or support system performance) violates preplanned termination criteria.

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