Commercial Space Transportation
Legislation
Regulations
Title 14 CFR
Chapter III—Commercial Space Transporation, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transporation
Subchapter A - General
Subchapter B - Procedure
- Part 404 — Regulations and Licensing Requirements
- Part 405 — Investigations and Enforcement
- Part 406 — Investigations, Enforcement, and Administrative Review
Subchapter C - Licensing
- Part 413 — License Application Procedures
- Part 414 — Safety Approvals
- Part 415 — Launch License
- Part 417 — Launch Safety
- Part 420 — License to Operate a Launch Site
- Part 431 — Launch and Reentry of a Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV)
- Part 433 — License to Operate a Reentry Site
- Part 435 — Reentry of a Reentry Vehicle Other than a Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV)
- Part 437 — Experimental Permits
- Part 440 — Financial Responsibility
- Part 460 — Human Space Flight Requirements
- Complete FAA/AST Regulations, 14 CFR Chapter III (PDF, 4.4 MB)
- Miscellaneous Changes to Commercial Space Transportation Regulations; Final Rule (PDF) (8/31/2006)
Current Notices of Proposed Rulemaking
Advisory Circulars
- License Application Procedures, AC 413-1 (PDF) (8/16/1999)
- Related Regulations: 14 CFR Part 413, Sections 413.5, 413.7, 413.9, 413.11, 413.13, 413.15, and 413.17, 413.19, 413.21 and 413.23
- Part 440 Insurance Conditions, AC 440-1 (PDF) (11/13/1998)
- Expected Casualty Calculations for Commercial Space Launch and Reentry Missions, AC 431.35-1 (PDF) (8/30/2000)
- Licensing Test Flight Reusable Launch Vehicle Missions, AC 431.35-3 (PDF) (8/15/2002)
- License Application Procedures, AC 413-1 (PDF) (8/16/1999)
- Reusable Launch and Reentry Vehicle System Safety Process, AC 431.35-2A (PDF) (7/20/1995)
Archived Rules and Notices
Historical Final Rules
- 14CFR Parts 405 and 406 Civil Penalty Actions in Commercial Space Transportation; Final Rule (PDF) (1/10/2001)
- 14CFR Parts 401, 411, 413, 415, and 417 Commercial Space Transportation Licensing Regulations; Final Rule (PDF) (6/21/1999)
Previous Notices of Proposed Rulemaking and Other Notices
- 14 CFR Parts 401, 404, 405, 406, 413, 420, 431, 437, Experimental Permits for Reusable Suborbital Rockets, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, March 31, 2006 (PDF)
- 14 CFR Parts 401, 415 et al., Human Space Flight Requirements for Crew and Space Flight Participants; Proposed Rule, December 29, 2005 (PDF)
- 14 CFR Part 414, Safety Approvals; Proposed Rule, June 1, 2005 (PDF)
- 14 CFR Parts 413, 415, and 417, Licensing and Safety Requirements for
Launch; Proposed Rule, July 30, 2002 (Supplementary Notice of Proposed Rulemaking) (PDF)
- Regulatory Evaluation (PDF)
- 14 CFR Parts 413, 415, and 417, Licensing and Safety Requirements for Launch; Notice of Proposed Rulemaking; Proposed Rule, October 25, 2000 (PDF)
Guidelines
- Financial Responsibility Requirements as Determined by the MPL Process (PDF) (01/12/2007)
- Guidelines on Probability of Failure Analysis for New Expendable Launch Vehicles (PDF) (11/2005)
- Non-Traditional Flight Safety Systems and IVHM (PDF) (10/2003)
- Hazard Analysis of Commercial Space Transportation (PDF) (10/1995)
- Impacting Inert Debris for People in the Open (PDF) (04/1995)
Environmental
- Guidelines for Compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act and Related Environmental Review Statutes for the Licensing of Commercial Launches and Launch Sites (PDF) (02/22/2001)
RLV Guidelines
- Guide to Reusable Launch and Reentry Vehicle Software and Computing System Safety (PDF) (07/2006)
- Guide to Verifying Safety-Critical Structures for Reusable Launch and Reentry Vehicles, Version 1.0 (PDF) (11/22/2005)
- Guide to the Identification of Safety-Critical Hardware Items for Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Developers (PDF) (05/1/2005)
- Guide to Reusable Launch and Reentry Vehicle Reliability Analysis (PDF) (04/2005)
- Guide to Commercial RLV Operations and Maintenance Version 1.0 (PDF) (03/2005)
- Guidance for Medical Screening of Commercial Aerospace Passengers (PDF) (03/31/2003)
- Guide to RLV Safety Validation and Verification Planning, Version 1.0 (PDF) (09/2003)
- Draft Guidelines for Commercial Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicle Operations with Flight Crew (PDF) (02/11/2005)
- Draft Guidelines for Commercial Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicle Operations with Space Flight Participants (PDF) (02/11/2005)
- Supplemental Application Guidance for Unguided Suborbital Launch Vehicles
- Financial Responsibility for Reentry Vehicle Operations (PDF) (05/1995)