Trump orders cull of regulations governing commercial rocket launches
10 days ago
- #Deregulation
- #Commercial Spaceflight
- #Space Regulation
- President Donald Trump signed an executive order to expedite or eliminate environmental reviews for commercial launch and reentry licenses.
- The FAA, under DOT, is responsible for licensing commercial launches and ensuring public safety, environmental compliance, and national interests.
- SpaceX and similar companies will benefit from deregulation efforts aimed at speeding up the licensing process.
- Trump directed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to eliminate or expedite environmental reviews, consulting with environmental quality officials.
- The order includes reevaluating or rescinding the Part 450 launch safety regulations, criticized as cumbersome by space companies.
- NASA, the military, and DOT are ordered to eliminate redundant reviews for spaceport development at federal launch ranges.
- The FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation will now be led by a political appointee, shifting from career civil servants.
- DOT will hire a deregulation advisor for the commercial spaceflight industry, and the Office of Space Commerce will gain prominence within the Commerce Department.
- ProPublica reported the executive order draft last month, highlighting plans to reduce environmental and public safety protections for rocket launches.