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Making rockets that are computer guided in any way except for "vertical stabilization" is a felony in the US, so DARPA would need to be involved to hand out wai

• jjk166 19d ago
  No it isn't. Guidance systems are perfectly legal. The FAA has some common sense restrictions like "you can't fly it at an airplane" or "you can't fly it over a crowd" or "you can't attach an explosive charge" but the only point to point flight profile that is illegal is that you can't launch into another country's territory. And of course these restrictions are on the flights themselves, not on the capabilities of the rocket. Selling rocket guidance systems internationally is going to get you in trouble with ITAR, but that's a whole different can of worms.
  • missedthecue 19d ago
    Yes it is. Building something explicitly designed as a guided ground-to-ground weapon (even with no payload) is an NFA destructive device. Without proper clearance, that's a felony, up to 10 year prison sentence, and up to $250k fine. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/5845 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/5845
    • jjk166 19d ago
      No it isn't. > The term “destructive device” shall not include any device which is neither designed nor redesigned for use as a weapon Adding a guidance system to a rocket does not mean it is explicitly designed as a ground-to-ground weapon. For the exact same reason it's legal to design and possess drones with guidance systems, it's legal to do so for rockets.
      • missedthecue 18d ago
        The OP was talking about a billionaire sponsoring a contest to design a precision guided weapon.