Commercial astronaut
Patti Grace Smith presents SpaceShipOne pilot Mike Melvill the department's first commercial astronaut wings. | |
| Occupation | |
|---|---|
Occupation type | Profession |
| Description | |
| Competencies | See astronaut training |
Fields of employment | Space exploration |
Related jobs | Astronaut |
A commercial astronaut is a person who is a crew member of a privately-owned spacecraft. The designation was established by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 2004 to promote innovations in commercial spaceflight. FAA was awarding wings to people that flew into space. The program was ended in 2022 with the rise of commercial space tourism that involved spacecraft that are either ground-controlled or autonomously controlled entirely by on-board computers; people flying into space as such non-crew members are designated as spaceflight participants instead.