re: The cost of reality has a way of ruining fantasies
At the Space Access conference in April, the head of the FAA AST stated in no uncertain terms that they were *not* interested in certifying spacecraft like aircraft, at least not at this point in the industry's development. Rather, they are developing a program for certifying spacecraft *passengers* -- which basically means making SURE that they understand the risks that they are taking. He compared it to the SEC's certification of private investors.
Cheers,
Nathan