§ 420.25
Launch site location review—risk analysis.
(a) If a flight corridor or impact dispersion area defined by section 420.23 contains a populated area, the applicant shall estimate the casualty expectation associated with the flight corridor or impact dispersion area. An applicant shall use the methodology provided in appendix C to this part for guided orbital or suborbital expendable launch vehicles and appendix D for unguided suborbital launch vehicles. The FAA will approve an alternate method if an applicant provides a clear and convincing demonstration that its proposed method provides an equivalent level of safety to that required by appendix C or D of this part. For a reusable launch vehicle, an applicant must provide a clear and convincing demonstration of the validity of its risk analysis.
(b) For licensed launches, the FAA will not approve the location of the proposed launch point if the estimated expected casualty exceeds 1 × 10−4.
[Doc. No. FAA-1999-5833, 65 FR 62861, Oct. 19, 2000, as amended by Amdt. 420-3, 72 FR 17019, Apr. 6, 2007; Docket No. FAA-2014-0418, Amdt. No. 420-7, 81 FR 47027, July 20, 2016]