The Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) was established in 1984 (Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984, as amended and re-codified at 51 U.S.C. 50901 – 50923) as part of the Office of the Secretary of Transportation within the Department of Transportation (DOT). In November 1995, Commercial Space Transportation was transferred to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as the FAA's only space-related line of business. Commercial Space Transportation was established to:
- Regulate the U.S. 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;
- Encourage, facilitate, and promote commercial space launches and reentries by the private sector;
- Recommend appropriate changes in Federal statutes, treaties, regulations, policies, plans, and procedures; and
- Facilitate the strengthening and expansion of the U.S. space transportation infrastructure.
FAA's Commercial Space Transportation Organization
FAA's Commercial Space Transportation manages its licensing and regulatory work as well as a variety of programs and initiatives to ensure the health and facilitate the growth of the U.S. commercial space transportation industry through the Office of the Associate Administrator, the Deputy Associate Administrator, the Chief of Staff and with Offices of Operational Safety and the Strategic Management. To see how this office is structured, please view the Commercial Space Transportation Organizational Chart.
To gain a better understanding of the important work this office does on behalf of the American public, please view this AST 101 video below.
Commercial Space Transportation Programs
Commercial Space Transportation is working to meet the needs now and into the future by working with those involved in every aspect of the commercial space industry, including the next generation of rocket engineers and scientists. We join forces with executives from the commercial space transportation industry, representatives from the satellite industry, manufacturers and users and also state and local government officials both nationally and internationally. We are going one step further by also working with the Air Traffic Organization and other FAA offices to efficiently integrate Commercial Space operations into the National Airspace System (NAS) to minimize impact on air travel and maximize safety.
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