The Senate Appropriations Committee recommends the Federal Aviation Administration to augment the agency’s method to streamline commercial launch policy, Space News reported Thursday. The committee approved a bill that boosts FAA’s funds for commercial launch licensing, but also urges the agency to create another draft on associated policy.
The agency’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation would receive $26 million via the bill, in contrast to the House’s $24.9 million proposal. A recent committee-issued report notes several concerns in FAA’s draft policy.Â
The existing draft provides unnecessary entry barriers for newer firms, limits cost efficiency and does not address the policy’s effects to future space ports, according to the report. The committee urges FAA to revise launch licensing requirements and provide a supplemental rulemaking proposal notice before the release of a final policy.
