On 3/7/2017 3:38 PM, JF Mezei wrote:
is there some FAA-like process to put multiple engines through various
tests before they are certified for flight?
Or it is still more of a "wild west" approach when the company decides
when/how the engine is OK to be put on a rocket and send up?
It's mostly the "wild west" and will be for at least a few more years.
The FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation regulates that stuff.
https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org...s_offices/ast/
BUT! There is a law, HR2262, greatly limits FAA's authority until 2023.
"The legislation means that private space travel is still considered
young, and lawmakers have given the industry more time to experiment and
gather data."It allows the industry to grow, to test, and to develop
without this overshadow of the regulatory hammer coming down on them,""