Rationales for the Lightning Launch Commit Criteria (original) (raw)

Natural and triggered lightning are demonstrated hazards to the launch of space vehicles, and the American space program has responded by establishing the "Lightning Launch Commit Criteria (LLCC)" to mitigate the risk. These LLCC are a complex set of rules with associated Definitions which must be satisfied before the launch of a space vehicle is permitted. The Definitions are an integral part of the LLCC and the term LLCC, as used in this document, is explicitly intended to include those Definitions. They apply to all Federal Government ranges including not only the well-known Eastern Range at Cape Canaveral, Florida, and the Western Range at Vandenberg AFB, California, but also smaller ranges such as the NASA range at Wallops Island, Virginia, the Air Force range at Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, and others. An earlier version of these rules currently applies to all spaceports operating under the jurisdiction of the Federal Aviation Administration (14 CFR 417). The LLCC are developed and approved through a complex process, but the core science and recommendations for precise wording of the operative parts of the rules are provided by a "Lightning Advisory Panel (LAP)" consisting of American scientists working in atmospheric electricity and related disciplines including dynamic meteorology, cloud physics, and statistics. The LAP works closely with the operational personnel who must implement the LLCC in practice to assure that the rules are not only scientifically sound, but also realistic and practical. The details are provided in a companion document entitled "

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