Cleared For Takeoff: Commercial Space Launch Regulatory Reform Continues

On the heels of the comment cycle closing for five Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposals to further the Enabling Competition in Commercial Space Industry Executive Order (EO), the Secretary of Transportation last week announced three new proposed rules and one new final rule in furtherance of the White House’s National Space Transportation Policy (the NSTP). The EO charged the Secretary of Transportation with streamlining the launch and reentry licensing process to facilitate increased commercial space launches by American operators.

The new proposed rules, announced November 5 (along with a final rule making minor technical corrections to existing regulations), would clarify the conditions under which a vehicle operator is not required to abort a flight, address the requirements for flight safety limits and define when a vehicle operator must initiate flight abort, and potentially allow operators to account for vehicle breakup to rule out high-consequence, multi-casualty