FAA Proposes Revisions to Five Commercial Space Launch Rules

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 6, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) published five proposed rule revisions for commercial space launch and spacecraft reentry licensing, intending to adjust the application submission, safety analysis, risk control, and compliance review requirements currently set forth in Part 450 of Title 14 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations. The revisions include allowing electronic submission of license applications, consolidating certain duplicative safety analysis materials, and expanding alternative compliance methods that meet equivalent safety requirements. The five proposals were published in the Federal Register on October 5, and the public comment period will close on November 4.

Regarding application procedures, the FAA proposes to allow commercial space operators to submit launch and reentry licenses and related permit applications through more electronic means, while also covering waiver applications, alternative approval timelines, and safety element approval requests. The corresponding revisions involve Parts 401, 404, 413, and 414. In terms of flight safety analysis, certain analysis method descriptions that operators are currently required to submit separately would be consolidated, with three general material requirements to be completed through a single submission, while the remaining requirements specific to particular analysis methods would be retained.

Risk control rules are also included in this revision. For launch vehicles that use physical containment measures to control flight risk, the FAA proposes to remove requirements that duplicate or conflict with other safety analysis provisions and to adjust the method for determining flight hazard areas. Operators would need to demonstrate that hazards generated by the launch vehicle during specific flight phases will not exceed the intended containment boundaries, while also confirming that the relevant areas contain no members of the public or critical assets. For flight phases where safety requirements cannot be met through physical containment measures alone, risk analysis must still be conducted in accordance with other applicable provisions.

The other two proposals concern lightning risk and explosive shockwave assessment. For the reentry flight phase, the FAA proposes to allow operators, under certain conditions, to be exempt from certain lightning risk mitigation requirements, provided that the launch vehicle and any potential debris are constrained by physical flight conditions from entering areas where the public and critical assets are located. For far-field explosive overpressure analysis, the proposed rules would allow operators to conduct assessments based on locations where public activity actually exists, rather than requiring calculation of risks at hypothetical locations.

This revision involves the license application and flight safety review segments of the U.S. commercial space launch regulatory system. The FAA issued unified commercial space launch and reentry licensing rules in 2020, which took effect in March 2021. In August 2025, the U.S. government issued Executive Order 14335, requiring the Department of Transportation to re-examine the relevant regulations. The five proposals were developed with the participation of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Space Policy Coordination and Execution Working Group, and the rulemaking process will proceed based on the public comment received.

The U.S. government has previously proposed a policy goal of achieving at least 1,000 commercial space launches and reentries per year by 2030. Data published by the U.S. Department of Transportation show that the United States completed 217 commercial space launches in 2025, out of a global total of 329 during the same period. The adjustments proposed by the FAA remain proposed rules and have not yet formally taken effect; the current licensing and safety review requirements continue to apply.