New Record for FAA-Licensed Commercial Space Operations, Aerospace Rulemaking Committee Launched to Update Licensing Rule

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ended Fiscal Year 2024 with a record 148 licensed commercial space operations, up more than 30 percent over the prior year. The FAA forecasts that number may more than double by FY 2028 and is launching an Aerospace Rulemaking Committee to update the FAA's Part 450 launch and reentry licensing rule.

"The FAA is seeking to update the licensing rule to foster more clarity, flexibility, efficiency, and innovation," said FAA Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation Kelvin B. Coleman. "Making timely licensing determinations without compromising public safety is a top priority."

The Part 450 rule was developed to streamline the regulations, reduce the number of times an operator would need to come to the FAA for a license approval and decrease the need for the FAA to process waivers, among other goals.

The committee will consist of members of the commercial space industry and academia and will focus on nine topics, including flight safety analyses, system safety, and means of compliance. It is expected to submit a report with recommended changes to Part 450 rule by late summer 2025. The FAA would then use the recommendations to plan future rulemaking actions.

The FAA is reaching out to invite stakeholders to participate, with an initial meeting being scheduled during the first week of December.

The FAA is committed to enabling the success of the U.S. commercial space transportation industry, ensuring the U.S. remains the preeminent commercial space country of choice and maintaining the industry's strong safety record. Reaching a license approval in a timely and efficient manner is central to achieving these outcomes and requires a partnership between the FAA and the industry.

The FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation continues to fine-tune its internal processes and policies and has significantly increased staffing to the highest level in its 40-year history. In addition, it is developing tools to automate license application submission and evaluation and expanded its educational outreach to the industry with additional pre-application consultation opportunities, advisory circulars, online workshops, and more.

The industry also can help to speed the license determination process. Companies are encouraged to take advantage of the educational opportunities offered by the FAA to better understand the requirements, submit complete applications with sound justifications, minimize changes to their applications during the evaluation period, respond to FAA requests for information in a timely manner and improve mission planning to reduce how many license modifications are required.

Facts and Figures

The number of FAA-licensed commercial operations (launches + reentries) has grown by more than 900% in the last decade from 14 in FY 2015 to a new record of 148 in FY 2024. View the commercial space data for all the latest numbers.

In FY 2024, the FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation made 49 licensing actions including issuing two new licenses, 10 license renewals, and 37 license modifications. The office also conducted 23 environmental reviews and performed 810 inspections. Its staffing is at a historic high of 165, up from 118 at the end of FY 2022.

Under federal law, the FAA has up to 180 days after accepting an application to approve or deny a new launch or reentry license. The FAA has met this deadline 98 percent of the time.

The FAA has issued seven Part 450 licenses, including to Astra Space, ABL Space, Inversion Space, Relativity Space, SpaceX, Stratolaunch and Varda Space.