{"id":18044,"date":"2021-03-23T14:00:17","date_gmt":"2021-03-23T14:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saj.pachecostudios.com?p=18044"},"modified":"2021-03-23T14:00:19","modified_gmt":"2021-03-23T14:00:19","slug":"new-era-of-u-s-commercial-space-transportation-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/national-news\/new-era-of-u-s-commercial-space-transportation-begins\/%20","title":{"rendered":"New Era of U.S. Commercial Space Transportation Begins"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The United States is leading the way to a new era of commercial space transportation<\/a> with a final rule that streamlines the licensing process for private sector launch and reentry operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInnovation in commercial space transportation is increasing\ndramatically, and policy needs to keep up. This rule will help us to prepare\nfor future U.S. leadership in commercial space transportation by facilitating\nthe continued economic growth and innovation of the American aerospace industry\nand ensuring the highest level of public safety,\u201d said U.S. Transportation\nSecretary Pete Buttigieg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new rule<\/a> took effect on March 21 and arose from a directive of the National Space Council to encourage American leadership in space commerce. The rule aims to support greater innovation, flexibility and efficiency in commercial space operations. It also seeks to keep pace with the dramatic increase in the $400 billion global space industry that is expected to generate revenues of $1.1 trillion or more by 2040.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rule streamlines and modernizes the Federal Aviation\nAdministration (FAA) commercial space launch and reentry licensing regulations\nby eliminating obsolete requirements, replacing most prescriptive requirements\nwith performance-based criteria and reducing duplicative regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also establishes a single set of licensing and safety\nregulations for several types of commercial space operations and vehicles. For\nexample, one license could support multiple launches and reentries at multiple\nlocations\u2014a game-changing innovation that will make this process more\nefficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith the streamlined rule we can make sure launch vehicles\naren\u2019t tethered to the launch pad with red tape and at the same time protect\npublic safety during commercial space operations,\u201d said FAA Administrator Steve\nDickson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The number of FAA-licensed commercial space launches has\ndramatically accelerated from only one in 2011 to a record 39 in 2020\u2014a 3800%\nincrease in just ten years. For 2021, the FAA is forecasting 50 or more\nFAA-licensed launch and reentry operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new rule will better fit today’s constantly evolving\naerospace industry whose technological advancements are lowering the cost of\nlaunch operations and opening new markets for satellites, space tourism and\npotentially suborbital point-to-point regional and intercontinental travel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Background<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the rule, to meet the increasing demand for\ncommercial space transportation services, the FAA is working with current\nactive license holders to authorize planned operations or modify current\nlicenses. The agency is also talking with a number of new entrants interested\nin applying for licenses. As of now, 11 companies hold 23 FAA-issued launch or\nreentry licenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

State and local governments are also looking to establish\nlaunch and reentry sites to provide additional operational capacity and serve\nas economic hubs.  In the U.S., there are\npresently 12 FAA-licensed spaceports, in addition to Federal government and\nprivate launch sites. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, the FAA reorganized its Office of Commercial\nSpace to meet the burgeoning private sector licensing demand and established\nthe Office of Spaceports. The agency is also continuing to test and deploy new\ntechnologies to further enable the safe and efficient integration of commercial\nspace operations with other types of air traffic in the National Airspace\nSystem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An FAA license is required to conduct any commercial launch\nor reentry, the operation of any launch or reentry site by U.S. citizens\nanywhere in the world, or by any individual or entity within the United States.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 1989, the FAA has licensed or permitted more than 450\ncommercial space launches and reentries. During that time there have been no\nfatalities, serious injuries or significant property damage to members of the\npublic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

View a video<\/a> of FAA Administrator Dickson discussing the new rule.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The United States is leading the way to a new era of commercial space transportation with a final rule that streamlines the licensing process for private sector launch and reentry operations. \u201cInnovation in commercial space transportation is increasing dramatically, and policy needs to keep up. This rule will help us to prepare for future U.S. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18044"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18045,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18044\/revisions\/18045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}