WASHINGTON — The House Science Committee is asking the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review the Federal Aviation Administration’s launch regulations that have generated criticism from industry.
Reps. Brian Babin (R-Texas) and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), chair and ranking member, respectively, of the House Science Committee, sent a letter to the GAO Feb. 12 formally requesting the agency to review regulations known as Part 450 intended to streamline the process for obtaining launch and reentry licenses.
“As the rule approaches its fifth anniversary, the Committee questions whether the implementation of the Part 450 regulations is effectively and efficiently accommodating United States commercial launch and reentry operations, especially as the cadence and technological diversity of such operations continues to increase,” they wrote in the letter.
They noted that some in the industry “have voiced concerns regarding the complexity of Part 450, the lack of clarity in guidance on the implementation of the regulations, and the overall timeline for obtaining launch and reentry licenses.” The committee’s space subcommittee held a hearing about those concerns in September.
The letter requests the GAO investigate if the FAA has sufficient procedures and guidance to help license applicants, and for information on the timelines for reviewing license applications. It also seeks information on FAA organizational structures, interaction with other agencies and opportunities for improvement.
Babin announced the letter in a speech at the 27th Annual Commercial Space Conference Feb. 12. “This review will provide Congress with an objective look at existing procedures and offer insight into whether further improvements are needed through legislation or administrative action,” he said.
Officials with the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation, or AST, have argued that they have been working to improve the licensing process. At the conference, they noted that they issued launch licenses for two recent high-profile launches, the first flight of Blue Origin’s New Glenn and the most recent SpaceX Starship/Super Heavy test flight, weeks ahead of their scheduled launches.
“Unfortunately, that was an outlier over the last several years,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, of those licenses at the conference. “We’ve all seen AST struggle with licensing new vehicles and grapple with an iterative vehicle development process, and seen the impact that it’s had on the pace of innovation.”
“I think we are on the brink of some forward progress here,” said Katie Cranor, acting deputy director of FAA/AST’s Office of Operational Safety, later in the conference, citing Cruz’s comments. “I understand that could be perceived as an outlier. I see it as a foreshadowing of what is to come, what we’re capable of doing, and how we’re applying our resources most efficiently and effectively.”
That includes ongoing work by a space-related Aerospace Rulemaking Committee, or SpARC, to collect industry input on ways to improve Part 450. That SpARC started work in December and is expected to provide a final report to the FAA in July, said Randy Repcheck, deputy director of FAA/AST’s Office of Strategic Management, at the conference.
“Pretty much the entire Part 450 is open for debate,” he said, but there will be a particular focus on the use of Part 450 for licensing reentry vehicles and handling test flights of new vehicles, as well as trading off the use of quantitative versus qualitative analyses for meeting license criteria.
While the final report is due in July, he said the FAA asked the SpARC for any findings the agency can implement immediately through a “quick” rulemaking or waivers. “What can we do right now with Part 450 to make things better?”
In addition to the SpARC, Repcheck said the agency was taking other efforts to streamline launch licensing, including publishing additional advisory circulars on ways applicants can comply with the regulations as well as office hours and workshops. AST is also developing a new electronic system for license applications. “We’re working hard on that to bring our licensing process up to at least the 2020s.”
