Launch Companies Seek Quicker FAA License Processing
Blue Origin, SpaceX and United Launch Alliance are pushing Congress for launch and re-entry rules overhaul. The FAA launch licensing regime was designed decades ago and the current rules are not reflective of reusability technology, SpaceX Senior Counsel Caryn Schenewerk…
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told the House Aviation Subcommittee Tuesday. In prepared testimony, Schenewerk backed one unified set of launch licensing rules that cover all vehicle types, mission profiles and launch sites. She said the current 180-day review period for launch license applications, coming atop the 50-day timeline for accepting an application for review, "is clearly impractical" and said there instead should be a 60-day time frame for license approval and a 15-day review for determining if an application is complete. She said the FAA should allow licensing of launch vehicles for multiple launch sites. Blue Origin Deputy General Counsel Audrey Powers backed shortened application review timelines. With the FAA working toward an NPRM with one set of proposed rules covering licensing requirements for all launch and re-entry vehicles, with a February deadline, that tight deadline could see the agency relying too heavily on some new-entrant launch companies, ULA Associate General Counsel Kelly Garehime said.