14 CFR § 437.53 - Pre-flight and post-flight operations.
---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t14/s437.53"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "14 CFR § 437.53 - Pre-flight and post-flight operations."
title_number: 14
title_name: "Aeronautics and Space"
section_number: "437.53"
section_name: "Pre-flight and post-flight operations."
chapter_name: "COMMERCIAL SPACE TRANSPORTATION, FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION"
subchapter_number: "C"
subchapter_name: "LICENSING"
part_number: "437"
part_name: "EXPERIMENTAL PERMITS"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-04-05"
last_updated: "2026-04-05"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "51 U.S.C. 50901-50923."
regulatory_source: "Docket No. FAA-2006-24197, 72 FR 17019, Apr. 6, 2007, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "437"
---
# 437.53 Pre-flight and post-flight operations.
A permittee must protect the public from adverse effects of hazardous operations and systems in preparing a reusable suborbital vehicle for flight at a launch site in the United States and returning the reusable suborbital vehicle and any support equipment to a safe condition after flight. At a minimum, a permittee must—
(a) Establish a safety clear zone that will contain the adverse effects of each operation involving a hazard; and
(b) Verify that the public is outside of the safety clear zone before and during any hazardous operation.
[Doc. No. FAA-2006-24197, Amdt. No. 437-0, 72 FR 17019, Apr. 6, 2007, as amended by Doc. No. FAA-2023-1656, Amdt. No. 437-4, 89 FR 76727, Sept. 19, 2024]