Industry Critical of the FAA for Space Launch Licensing Delays
Industry Critical of the FAA for Space Launch Licensing Delays
House Science Subcommittee Holds Hearing into the Issue
The Space and Aeronautics subcommittee of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee held a hearing last week to discuss ongoing efforts to streamline licensing for launch and related activities as well as to evaluate the appropriate structure for regulating commercial space activities outside the purview of the current regulatory structure.
“(W)e must advance the Commercial Space Act and not wait for another Congress to act."
Congressman Frank Lucas (R-OK)
Multiple federal agencies share responsibility for regulating space activities. The Department of Transportation (DOT) licenses launch and reentry and the operation of spaceports, a responsibility it administratively delegates to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) regulates the operation of private space remote sensing systems through its Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs division (CRSRA). The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) licenses radio communications that use satellites.
Often, space activities can also fall into the purview of other agencies; for example, the Department of State administers the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, which apply to the export of certain space technologies.
In 2018, the Trump Administration issued Space Policy Directive-2 (SPD-2), which directed federal agencies to streamline regulations applicable to nongovernmental space activities and triggered a series of reform efforts.
Congress seeks to assess the extent to which the Part 450 licensing process streamlined regulations under SPD-2, and whether such regulatory reforms succeeded in easing the burden of regulatory compliance experienced by commercial launch and reentry providers. It is also beneficial for Congress to consider whether there are other aspects of Part 450 licensing that could benefit from further study and improvement.
"Last fall, this Committee addressed many of these issues in the Commercial Space Act, sponsored by Chairman Babin. This legislation provided regulatory certainty to the American commercial space sector while streamlining the licensing process for launch and reentry," said committee chair Frank Lucas (R-OK) in his opening statement.
"The morning that we marked up that legislation, the National Space Council unveiled a legislative proposal for mission authorization that, while well-intentioned, created more burdens for our commercial space industry. This proposal would require commercial operators to go through a maze of regulatory agencies before launch and creates a confusing process for even the most seasoned regulatory experts. This is why we must advance the Commercial Space Act and not wait for another Congress to act."
David Cavossa, president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, said Part 450’s inherent defects were evident from day one. "Not only are processes and procedures not streamlined, they are unclear, lack clarity of intent, are subject to differing and often conflicting interpretations, and are substantially slower to go through and more constraining on innovation and operational tempo than legacy regulations," Cavossa said.
"By law, FAA must provide licensing determinations within 180 days; however, every single license issued under Part 450 has significantly exceeded this requirement, some by years, in part due to the mandatory pre-application period, which AST has determined is not subject to the 180- day statutory licensing time period. It is unreasonable for licensing to be more time consuming than developing and testing rockets. Ironically, FAA’s performance under the legacy regulations Part 450 was intended to replace has improved in recent years, but this improvement has not extended to Part 450 and will be erased once the prior framework is sunset in 2026."
Kelvin Coleman, the FAA Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation, said the Office of Commercial of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) has compiled an impressive safety record for this rapidly growing industry. No FAA-licensed launch or reentry operation has ever resulted in a fatality or injury to a member of the public, nor has there been any significant public property damage. But the office understands the importance of timely licensing of commercial spaceflights.
"Over the last 11 years, we have issued 49 license determinations, averaging 151 days to issue a new license," Coleman said. "We have taken action to improve our internal efficiency, which includes bolstering our staffing to handle licensing, permitting, and inspections; improved communication with industry that is clear, concise, specific, and actionable; wider availability through office hours and workshops; and investments in the development of new tools that will improve license application and processing efficiency.
However, he said that industry bears some responsibility for timely licensing by the agency. "We continue to encourage operators to ensure their licensing applications speak directly to our requirements at the outset, with clear narratives that spell out their safety case—exactly how their methodologies support the means of compliance," he said. "Additionally, it is important that operators minimize amendments and go-backs after their application review has started. When operators require significant changes to their applications, it often leads to significant and additional delays, as our experts have to verify and validate the changed data and its effects on other areas of the application. When a quality application is provided by an applicant at the start, a more expeditious approval is possible.
"The burden of proof of compliance rests with the operator, and with the increased demands placed on our office, we need operators to submit well-reasoned applications that clearly spell out means of compliance to make the most efficient and effective use of our resources," Coleman said.