Office of Commercial Space Transportation - Overview

Overview

Under international law, the nationality of the launch operator and the location of the launch determines which country is responsible for any damage that occurs. Due to this, the United States requires that rocket manufacturers and launchers adhere to specific regulations to indemnify and protect the safety of people and property that may be affected by a flight. The Office of Commercial Space Transportation was created by the Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984 to meet this need. The office also regulates launch sites, publishes quarterly launch forecasts, and holds annual conferences with the space launch industry. The office is headed by the Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation (FAA/AST), who is currently Dr. George C. Nield. They are located in Washington, DC, and ultimately operate under the Department of Transportation.

AST is responsible for licensing private space vehicles and spaceports within the US. This is in contrast with NASA which is a research and development agency of the U.S. Federal Government, and as such neither operates nor regulates the commercial space transportation industry. The regulatory responsibility for the industry has been assigned to the Federal Aviation Administration, which is a regulatory agency. NASA does, however, often use launch satellites and spacecraft on vehicles developed by private companies.

According to its legal mandate (49 USC, Subtitle IX, Chapter 701, Commercial Space Launch activities) AST has the responsibility to:

• regulate the commercial space transportation industry, only to the extent necessary 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 interest of the United States;
• encourage, facilitate, and promote commercial space launches by the private sector;
• recommend appropriate changes in Federal statutes, treaties, regulations, policies, plans, and procedures; and
• facilitate the strengthening and expansion of the United States space transportation infrastructure.