The Federal Aviation Administration has added areas of space launch activity to the agency's pilot navigation charts as commercial space operations continue to increase. FAA said Wednesday that it expects the number of authorized launch and reentry missions to increase from 41 last year to 50 or above during 2021.
The agency uses a rocket symbol to mark launch sites on the navigational resource for aircraft pilots who use the virtual approach. Twelve spaceports located in Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Virginia hold an FAA license.
A new agency rule that went into effect on March 21 provides the commercial space transportation industry a set of licensing and safety guidelines meant to simplify the regulatory process.
