Space Operators Might Need to Pay for FAA Regulation: DOT

The time may be coming for commercial space operators regulated by the FAA to have to contribute to the agency's income, Transportation Deputy Secretary Polly Trottenberg said Wednesday at an FAA Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) meeting. Asked about the likelihood of increased congressional funding for FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation, Trottenberg said the Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act put a lot of money into some forms of infrastructure but not as much on aviation items including FAA staffing and equipment. She said the DOT appropriations process for FY 2024 also looks contentious. Even if the FAA gets more resources, that ramp-up in resources almost surely still won't be enough to match the pace of commercial space activity. Michael O'Donnell, deputy associate administrator-commercial space transportation, said the FAA has licensed and overseen 104 launches so far this year, with the number on track to hit 120 by year's end. Last year saw 84 launches, he said. COMSTAC members and DOT officials went back and forth for several minutes regarding the speed of FAA activity. Virginia Commercial Space Flight CEO Ted Mercer said there's no industry disagreement that FAA's priority is safety, but there is some about how the agency goes about that. He criticized FAA activity around Rocket Lab's Electron rocket failure earlier this year as misguided because while it represented a mission failure, it posed no danger to humans. "Safety organizations tend to be conservative by their nature," Trottenberg said, but noted the agency recognizes it needs to move faster -- if not at the speed of industry. Michael Price, FAA lead compliance specialist-Airport Compliance Division, said the FAA is considering a policy change that would give launch and re-entry vehicles and unmanned aircraft systems greater access to federally funded airports. The FAA has drafted a policy statement that updates the definition of "aeronautical activity" for federally funded airports to include UAS and rockets, Price said. The change gives launch and UAS operators greater ability to try to provide access to the public on reasonable terms, he said. He said the policy statement's publication in the Federal Register is imminent, followed by a 30-day comment period.