Industry Groups Reject White House Bill Regarding Authorization of Outer Space Activities

JAKARTA – A number of companies that are members of the Commercial Space Aviation Federation (CSF) oppose the draft law (RUU) introduced by the White House on November 2.

With the birth of this bill, the White House plans to regulate space activities through the Departments of Commerce and Transportation. It is this plan that CSF wants to oppose according to a report by Spacenews.

CSF submitted a letter to the DPR Science Committee and the US Senate Commerce Committee on Monday, November 27. Through the letter, CSF argued that the White House's new bill would burden and confuse space companies and agencies.

The group of industry representatives admitted that they were worried about the division of responsibilities between two institutions at once. According to the CSF, the Department of Commerce and Transportation could create the potential for duplicative or possibly conflicting requirements.

“For some operations, it is unclear which agency has the authority to issue the relevant permits or whether multiple permits are required,” the CSF wrote in the letter.

Another concern of the CSF is the burden placed on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). With the addition of these agencies, the FAA may get more work, but their budget will not get an increase.

For your information, the bill drafted by the National Space Council gives authority to two agencies to supervise and permit all activities that do not receive permission from other agencies, such as launches, satellite communications, and commercial remote sensing.

The Department of Transportation will oversee human spaceflight activities from launch to return, while the Department of Commerce will regulate commercial remote sensing and oversee unmanned spacecraft.