14 CFR §420.23
Verified against eCFR.gov as of June 20, 2026View official text on eCFR.gov ↗
- (a)Guided orbital expendable launch vehicle. For a guided orbital expendable launch vehicle, an applicant shall define a flight corridor that:
- (1)Encompasses an area that the applicant estimates, in accordance with the requirements of this part, to contain debris with a ballistic coefficient of ≥3 pounds per square foot, from any non-nominal flight of a guided orbital expendable launch vehicle from the launch point to a point 5000 nm downrange, or where the IIP leaves the surface of the Earth, whichever is shorter;
- (2)Includes an overflight exclusion zone where the public risk criteria of 1 × 10−4 would be exceeded if one person were present in the open; and
- (3)Uses one of the methodologies provided in appendix A or B of this part.
- (b)Guided sub-orbital expendable launch vehicle. For a guided sub-orbital expendable launch vehicle, an applicant shall define a flight corridor that:
- (1)Encompasses an area that the applicant estimates, in accordance with the requirements of this part, to contain debris with a ballistic coefficient of ≥3 pounds per square foot, from any non-nominal flight of a guided sub-orbital expendable launch vehicle from the launch point to impact with the earth's surface;
- (2)Includes an impact dispersion area for the launch vehicle's last stage;
- (3)Includes an overflight exclusion zone where the public risk criteria of 1 × 10−4 would be exceeded if one person were present in the open; and
- (4)Uses one of the methodologies provided in appendix A or B to this part.
- (c)Unguided sub-orbital expendable launch vehicle.
- (1)For an unguided sub-orbital expendable launch vehicle, an applicant shall define the following using the methodology provided by appendix D of this part:
- (i)Impact dispersion areas that the applicant estimates, in accordance with the requirements of this part, to contain the impact of launch vehicle stages from nominal flight of an unguided sub-orbital expendable launch vehicle from the launch point to impact with the earth's surface; and
- (ii)An overflight exclusion zone where the public risk criteria of 1 × 10−4 would be exceeded if one person were present in the open.
- (2)An applicant shall base its analysis on an unguided suborbital launch vehicle whose final launch vehicle stage apogee represents the intended use of the launch point.
- (1)For an unguided sub-orbital expendable launch vehicle, an applicant shall define the following using the methodology provided by appendix D of this part:
- (d)Reusable launch vehicle. For a reusable launch vehicle, an applicant shall define a flight corridor that contains the hazardous debris from nominal and non-nominal flight of a reusable launch vehicle. The applicant must provide a clear and convincing demonstration of the validity of its flight corridor.