Commercial Spaceflight Federation


The Commercial Spaceflight Federation is a private spaceflight industry group, incorporated as an industry association for the purposes of establishing ever higher levels of safety for the commercial human spaceflight industry, sharing best practices and expertise, and promoting the growth of the industry worldwide. Issues that the Commercial Spaceflight Federation work on include, but are not limited to, airspace issues, FAA regulations and permits, industry safety standards, public outreach, and public advocacy for the commercial space sector.

History

The Commercial Spaceflight Federation was initially conceived as the Personal Spaceflight Federation by a group of leaders in the emerging private spaceflight industry in 2005. The goal of the newly created Personal Spaceflight Federation was to "design and uphold the standards and processes necessary to ensure public safety and promote growth of the personal spaceflight industry."
On August 22, 2006, the PSF laid out their priorities as:
On June 15, 2008, the Personal Spaceflight Federation announced a new website and a new name—the Commercial Spaceflight Federation—to emphasize "the diverse business activities of the commercial human spaceflight industry." The areas the CSF now represented include:
On August 10, 2009, the CSF announced the creation of the Suborbital Applications Research Group. On February 18, 2010, the CSF announced a new research and education affiliates program.

Lobbying efforts

The Commercial Spaceflight Federation has seven committees composed of their members and staff that are working to address the most pressing issues facing the industry. Participation in these committees is open to Executive and Associate members.

Export Control

Within CSF's Export Control Committee, members work with industry experts from a variety of government agencies to promote modernization of Export Control policy and procedures in regards to the commercial space industry. The committee aims to assist American companies to remain competitive leaders in the global market and to advance innovation and technology overall. The committee also serves as a point of reference for adherence to current legislation and policy.

Government Funding

The Government Funding Committee works to secure funding for the major governmental space agencies, NASA and FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation. They monitor the budget requests of these agencies and work with legislative and executive contacts to ensure lack of funding does not impede advancement of the commercial space sector.

Regulatory

CSF's Regulatory Committee collaborates to prepare information for and present a united position to legislative, executive and regulatory agencies. The committee works to get legislation passed that will benefit the space industry.

Industry Standards

With the help of experienced aerospace professionals and standards development organizations, the members of the Industry Standards Committee work together to research and design industry consensus safety standards. These standards ensure the safety of spaceflight participants, provide the FAA with means of compliance, and can be used in the future to assist in creating regulations.

Space Commerce

The Space Commerce Committee serves as the industry point of contact for legislative agencies. When issues arise that affect space commerce, such as the legal framework for resources mined from asteroids, the members author reports that agencies can use to prepare appropriate legislation.

Spaceports

The Commercial Spaceflight Federation's Spaceports Committee focuses on a wide variety of issues facing the spaceport community including environmental, infrastructure, and regulatory topics.

Small Sats

The Small Sats Committee identifies and proposes consensus solutions to address potential issues that could hamper the commercial space industry's growth. The committee focuses on multiple topics including regulations, licensing, permitting, sector outreach and promotion, and more.

Membership

CSF members are responsible for the creation of thousands of high-tech jobs driven by billions of dollars in investment. Members are over 80 industry leaders involved in commercial spaceflight, and many would be considered to be a part of the rapid resurgence in private spaceflight, often referred to as new space.
There are four tiers of CSF membership, with each having different requirements and perks. The highest tier is Executive Membership, which is generally reserved for commercial spaceflight developers, operators, and spaceports. Below Executive members are Associate Members, which is composed of suppliers supporting commercial spaceflight, with recent members including suppliers of mission support services and suppliers of training, medical and life-support products and services. The third tier of membership is called Research and Education Affiliates, and this tier is occupied by Universities, educational and student nonprofits, and other research and education institutions. The fourth and final tier of CSF membership is the Patrons Program. This tier is distinct from the rest in the sense that it is composed of individuals rather than corporate entities.

Executive Members

Executive Membership is the highest level of membership offered at the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. At this level, members have an exclusive seat on the CSF Board of Directors.

Current List of Executive Members

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Associate membership is the second highest tier of membership offered at The Commercial Spaceflight Federation. Associate members are invited to participate on the seven CSF committees: Export Control, Government Funding, Regulatory, Space Commerce, Spaceports, Standards, and Small Satellites.

Current List of Associate Members

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The Commercial Spaceflight Federation's Research and Education Affiliates program was created on February 18, 2010. Mark Sirangelo, the chairman of CSF when the research and education affiliates program was created, stated: "Researchers, engineers, and educators will be among the primary beneficiaries of the new generation of low-cost commercial spacecraft, as payload opportunities to space start to grow. We’re excited to create a new category of affiliate membership to strengthen the ties between the Commercial Spaceflight Federation and the research and education community."

Current list of research and education affiliates

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The Commercial Spaceflight Federation's Patron Program was established on August 17, 2017 by CSF's Chairman of the Board at the time, Dr. Alan Stern. This new category of membership is unique in that it allows for individual involvement and support of CSF, as opposed to the CSF's Executive, Associate, and Educational membership categories, which are reserved for corporations, and organizations. When the program was created, Eric Stallmer, the current President of CSF had this to say: "This new opportunity for individual engagement will increase our effectiveness as the leading voice for the industry and allow us to better serve our members and the overall industry."

Suborbital Applications Researchers Group

The Suborbital Applications Researchers Group was created on August 10, 2009 to "increase awareness of commercial suborbital vehicles in the science and R&D communities, to work with policymakers to ensure that payloads can have easy access to these vehicles, and to further develop ideas for the uses of these vehicles for science, engineering, and education missions."
MemberAffiliation
Michael BanishUniversity of Alabama in Huntsville
Sean CaseySilicon Valley Space Center
Steven CollicottPurdue University
Marsh CuttinoOrbital Medicine
Adrienne DoveUniversity of Central Florida
Steve HeckThe Arete STEM Project and Foundation
Anna-Lisa PaulUniversity of Florida
Bobby RussellQuestforstars
Tommy SanfordCommercial Spceflight Federation
Mark ShelhamerJohns Hopkins University
H. Todd SmithJHU Applied Physics Laboratory
Constantine TsangSouthwest Research Institute
Charlie WalkerIndependent Consultant & Speaker