A Safety Framework for Commercial Human Spaceflight

The year 2021 was extraordinary for commercial human spaceflight. After a long-anticipated development cycle, the world watched several companies successfully launch humans into suborbital and orbital space. These launches were truly an extraordinary achievement and broadly celebrated. However, there is also an open, lingering question: Is it time for a regulatory framework to further promote the safety of commercial spaceflight passengers or can safety be left to the industry alone?