Company Intends To Set Highest Industry Standard For Commercial Spaceflight Training

The FAA has granted safety approval to spaceflight training company Waypoint 2 Space for training services that are expected to begin late spring of 2014. The FAA safety approval solidifies Waypoint 2 Space’s commitment to establishing the safest and highest training standards for the industry.

Waypoint 2 Space is the only domestic company that will be providing fully comprehensive and immersive spaceflight training programs for both suborbital and orbital space. The company is offering future and prospective crew and spaceflight participants the opportunity to receive innovative training techniques and have access to the most advanced equipment in the world.
 
“This achievement is an important milestone for us and for the commercial spaceflight industry as a whole,” said Kevin Heath, chief executive officer of Waypoint 2 Space. “The FAA is working very hard to assure that space vehicles, launch sites and training programs are the safest they can be and we believe this safety approval for our programs is another step in that direction. If someone wants to go to space or just wants to experience what it is like to train like an astronaut, Waypoint 2 Space is their first step.”
 
The FAA safety approval (SA 14-007) for Waypoint 2 Space meets the Crew and Space Flight Participant Training requirements of 14 CFR § 460.5 (a), (b) and 14 CFR § 460.51 allowing the company to offer its spaceflight training services to a prospective launch or reentry operator.

The following programs will begin to be offered in late spring of 2014:

• Level 1 – Spaceflight Fundamentals: A one-week, fully immersive introduction course designed for anyone interested in training like an astronaut. This program includes launch and reentry G-forces, micro gravity, mission control operations, space suit operations, crew resource management and more.
• Level 2 – Sub-Orbital Training: Three days in a rigorous, sub-orbital space environment training designed for a specific flight profile and vehicle. Participants will learn and experience how limited exposure to weightlessness and G-forces associated with rocket powered flight affect the body. This training prepares participants to take full advantage of the three to four minutes of weightlessness during flight.
• Level 3 – Orbital Training: Beginning 2015, this eight-week course consists of rigorous training for the orbital space environment on launch and orbital vehicle operations, intra-vehicular activity occurring during a stay on an orbital vehicle of 10 days or more. This tailored program expands to 12 weeks with Extra Vehicular Activity training. Over the course of this program, participants will gain confidence as they experience a multitude of test scenarios, including spatial disorientation, emergency depressurization procedures, vehicle malfunctions and contingency operations.

“The Waypoint 2 Space team is a strategic mix of individuals who have developed training programs for both NASA Astronauts and Air Force pilots,” said Dr. Kelly Soich, director of programs and chief payload specialist for Waypoint 2 Space. “Waypoint 2 Space training programs incorporate the best techniques and technologies from NASA and Air Force programs while the FAA safety approval allows us to move forward with offering training classes and bringing the programs to the public. We are excited to be leading this effort and look forward to bringing the reality of spaceflight to our trainees.”
 
Waypoint 2 Space is working in collaboration with NASA Johnson Space Center. Through this collaboration Waypoint 2 Space training programs will utilize the same technology and equipment that has been used to train NASA Astronauts for the past 50 years. In addition, Waypoint will work with NASA to advance technologies beneficial to human spaceflight for both commercial and government.

FMI: www.waypoint2space.com