President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday in which government agencies are instructed to “eliminate or accelerate” environmental assessments for commercial launch and return labels.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), part of the Department of Transportation (DOT), grants licenses for commercial launch and return activities. The FAA is responsible for guaranteeing the launch and reentries that do not endanger the public that they meet environmentalets and associated with American national interests.
The urge for deregulation will be welcome news for companies such as SpaceX, led by one -off Trump cummer Elon Musk, who performs almost all commercial launches and reentries of the FAA.
Deregulation time
Trump ordered transport secretary Sean Duffy, who also acts as acting administrator of NASA, to “use all available authorities to eliminate or accelerate … Environmental reviews for …. launch and return licenses and permits.” In the order signed by Trump, the White House officials wrote that Duffy must consult the chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality and follow “applicable law” in the regulatory Cull.
The executive order also contains a clause that gives Duffy assignment to re -evaluate, change or switch on a series of launch instructions written during the first Trump administration. The FAA published the new regulations, known as part 450, in 2020 and they were in force in 2021, but space companies have complained that they are too cumbersome and have delayed the license inspection process.
And there is more. Trump ordered NASA, the Army and Dot to eliminate duplication assessments for the development of space. This is particularly relevant in the launch of federal ownership, such as the one in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California and Wallops Island, Virginia.
The Trump government is also planning to make the head of the FAA office for commercial space a political appointment. This office supervises commercial launch and return permit and was previously led by an official of the career. Duffy will also hire a consultant about deregulation in the commercial space industry to become a member of DOT, and the Office of Space Commerce will be elevated to a prominent position within the Commerce department.
