About $14 billion has been invested in aircraft and more than $25 billion in the whole industry in that time, but the growth in pilots, flight trainers, regulatory safety experts and maintenance engineers has not kept pace with demand, according to analysts and regulators themselves.
Moon Express has begun discussions with the F.A.A. for the second trip to the lunar south pole, and Dr. Richards is confident that the company could successfully pull off its first three flights via the current regulatory patchwork.
Republicans and industry officials have blamed the FAA for the surge in rogue drone flights, saying the US aviation regulatory agency failed to produce final regulations for commercial drone flights in time to meet a September 30, 2015, congressional deadline.
Regulatory restrictions on flights between the European Union (EU) and America are largely to blame.
The European Union's aviation regulatory agency barred flights of the Max 8, as well as a slightly newer model, the Max 9, joining several other regulators around the world.
"We're exploiting the fact that any flights over the ocean do not require regulatory approval," says Peter Tuggey of AeroMobile.So the availability of in-flight communications seems likely to vary widely.
For now, the company is testing the system on private property and in countries where regulatory issues don't prohibit flight.
WASHINGTON — The developer of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo suborbital space tourism vehicle has won U.S. regulatory approval to begin powered flight testing of the rocket-propelled craft later this year.
But even Vaculík publicly acknowledges that maneuvering all of the regulatory concerns around mass personal flight, then going on to make a safe and usable vehicle affordable, is a huge challenge.
