Get Commercial Space Transportation

The office is headed by the Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation (FAA/AST), who is currently Kelvin Coleman.

The Office of Commercial Space Transportation (generally referred to as FAA/AST or simply AST) is the branch of the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that approves any commercial rocket launch operations — that is, any launches that are not classified as model, amateur, or "by and for the government" ...

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Office of Commercial Space Transportation is the government entity responsible for regulating the safe operations of commercial space transportation.

In recent times, the average cost of a single space launch can range from tens of millions to hundreds of millions of dollars. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launches have been advertised at around $62 million per launch, while larger rockets like the Falcon Heavy can cost upwards of $90 million per launch.

One variant of space tourism is to take fare-paying passengers to the edge of space—generally set at 100 km (62 miles) altitude—for brief suborbital flights that offer a few minutes of weightlessness and a broad view of Earth.

Federal Aviation Administration Agency overview Headquarters Orville Wright Federal Building 800 Independence Avenue SW Washington, D.C., U.S. 20591 38°53′13″N 77°1′22″W Annual budget US$19.807 billion (FY2024) Agency executives Michael Whitaker, [administer] Jordan, [Manager] Parent agency U.S. Department of Transportation9 more rows

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) oversees commercial space operations with humans onboard under its broader licensing framework. FAA requires commercial launch operators to obtain a license before conducting any operation within U.S. borders—whether they carry humans or payloads, such as satellites.

A nuclear-powered shuttle or ferry using the NERVA engine, to move crew, spacecraft and supplies between low Earth orbit and lunar orbit, geosynchronous orbit, or to other planets in the solar system. A crew module derived from the space station module would be used to send humans to the Moon or Mars.