According to a report by Reuters on July 28, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposed new regulations on Tuesday. The proposal aims to eliminate the requirement that commercial rocket and satellite launches comply with 13 environmental and other legal requirements, thereby accelerating the approval process for commercial space missions like those of SpaceX. Under the proposed rules, the FAA could waive certain requirements under laws such as the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Clean Air Act, in order to ‘streamline and accelerate the approval process for commercial space licenses’.
Currently, the FAA has 180 days to review a complete license application. However, preparing the complete documents is a lengthy process, and both the decision-making phases involve multiple rounds of consultation and review. According to industry data platform SpaceNexus, the actual approval time for license applications from new operators or new types of vehicles can be as long as 36 months.
The Transportation Department, under the FAA, stated in a statement on Tuesday: "The applicants face unnecessary and time-consuming requirements and expenses, including the preparation of environmental study materials and providing information for overlapping reviews by multiple federal agencies. These redundant processes have caused unnecessary delays in recent launch operations."
According to reports, in 2025, the FAA authorized a record number of 204 commercial space operations. Of these, SpaceX carried out 170 launches, deploying approximately 2,500 satellites.
In May of this year, FAA Director Beedford revealed that SpaceX’s goal is to achieve 10,000 launches per year within five years. However, the government needs to see a significant improvement in the reliability of its spacecraft launches before approving the plan.
Bedford also said that President Trump hopes to send Americans back to the moon by 2028. “To achieve this, we must work with the industry to foster innovation.”
Speaking of approval efficiency, Bedford said that the FAA is not currently a limiting factor for space launches. However, he admitted, “I can foresee that in the future, we will become a limiting factor, because we are not investing enough funds in our space teams.”
