Virgin Galactic is all set for launch of Galactic 01, the first commercial spaceflight. On June 29, four crew members will take-off for a suborbital spaceflight ushering in, as many expect, a new era in spacefaring.
But the recent tragedy of OceanGate submersible has sparked debate about safety in expeditions which, relatively recently, are opening up to tourism. While no one denies importance of safety, voices from the corporate world have often said that it stifles creativitry in designing these vessels.
In the immediate aftermath of OceanGate tragedy, media reports had quoted the company’s CEO Stockton Rush dismissing need to invest more in safety during one of his previous interviews. Rush was one of five killed in OceanGate submersible implosion near the wreck of the Titanic.
Tomaso Sgobba, a former head of space safety at the European Space Agency (ESA) told Space.com that OceanGate tragedy is a wake up call to ensure that space tourism, the next frontier emphasises on safety of those travelling.
‘An analogue’
“It is exactly the kind of scenario that would trigger a big discussion if it were to happen in a space tourism flight,” said Sgobba, who is now executive director of the International Association of the Advancement of Space Safety (IAASS)
“In fact, we have a sort of an analogue here. You have a technology that goes into an extreme environment for the purpose of pleasure that doesn’t give much chance to people to survive if something goes badly wrong.”
The Commercial Spaceflight Federation represents space tourism companies in the US. Space.com said that it did nor respond to request for a comment but that its president Karina Drees had argued against safety regulations in past in a previous interview with the website.
“The vehicles that have been designed today are quite different from each other,” Drees told Space.com at the time. “And so if regulations had been written on any one style, then that would have really prevented some of these designs from coming to the market.”
Sgobba objected to this arguement
“The certification is essentially a peer-review of your design by an expert,” Sgobba said. “Instead of waiting for an accident, you perform your hazard analysis in advance. The solution to your hazard analysis is entirely in your design and you get input from other people who understand this matter and that can help you to make your product as safe as possible,” he said.
