About the Office
The Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) is the only space-related line of business within the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). AST was established in 1984 as the Office of Commercial Space Transportation (OCST) in the Office of the Secretary of Transportation within the Department of Transportation. AST was transferred to the FAA in November 1995. The Office of Commercial Space Transportation:
- Regulates the commercial space transportation industry, to ensure compliance with international obligations of the United States and to protect the public health and safety, safety of property, and national security and foreign policy interests of the United States;
- Encourages, facilitates, and promotes commercial space launches and reentries by the private sector;
- Recommends appropriate changes in Federal statutes, treaties, regulations, policies, plans, and procedures; and
- Facilitates the strengthening and expansion of the United States space transportation infrastructure.
AST issues FAA licenses for commercial launches of orbital rockets and suborbital rockets. The first U.S. licensed launch was a suborbital launch of a Starfire vehicle on March 29, 1989. Since then, AST has licensed almost 200 launches. AST also issues licenses for the operations of non-federal launch sites, or "spaceports." Since 1996, AST has issued site operator licenses for seven spaceports: California Spaceport at Vandenberg Air Force Base; Spaceport Florida at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station; the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia; Mojave Air and Space Port in California; Kodiak Launch Complex on Kodiak Island, Alaska; the Oklahoma Spaceport, Burns Flat, Oklahoma; and Spaceport America, Las Cruces, New Mexico. The first launch from a licensed, non-federal facility was that of NASA's Lunar Prospector aboard a Lockheed Martin Athena 2 on January 6, 1998, from Spaceport Florida.
On December 23, 2004, the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004 (CSLAA) was enacted. As a result, AST published FAA regulations which implement significant requirements outlined in the CSLAA. On April 6, 2007, the FAA issued the Final Rule on Experimental Permits for Reusable Suborbital Rockets, which establishes an experimental permit regime for developmental reusable suborbital rockets for testing purposes, e.g., new design concepts and new equipment. Currently, AST has authorized 20 permitted launches. On September 14, 2006, The FAA Safety Approval Final Rule (14 CFR Parts 413 and 414) (PDF) was effective on September 14, 2006, allowing AST to issue a safety approval for the following elements: (a) launch vehicle, reentry vehicle, safety system, process, service, or any identified component thereof; or (b) qualified and trained personnel, performing a process or function related to licensed launch activities. On February 13, 2007, the FAA Final Rule on Human Space Flight Requirements for Crew and Space Flight Participants, became effective, establishing requirements for crew and space flight participants (passengers) involved in private human space flight. This rule maintains FAA's commitment to protect the safety of the uninvolved public and call for measures that enable passengers to make informed decisions about their personal safety.
On December 4, 2008, FAA issued the Final Rule on the Requirements for Amateur Rocket Activities, which amends amateur rocket regulations to preserve the level of safety associated with amateur rocketry and to reflect current industry practice. This regulation also updates and aligns FAA regulations with widely used advances in the amateur rocket industry.
Authorizing Legislation
49 USC, Subtitle IX, Chapter 701, July 2007 (PDF)
Divisions
AST manages its licensing and regulatory work as well as a variety of activities to ensure the health and facilitate the growth of the commercial space transportation industry through the Office of the Associate Administrator along with its three functional divisions: the Space Systems Development Division (AST-100), the Licensing and Safety Division (AST-200), and the Systems Engineering and Training Division (AST-300).
