A Nearly 20-Year Ban on Human Spaceflight Regulations Set To Expire

n 2004, Congress passed a law that established a moratorium on federal safety regulations for commercial astronauts and space tourists riding to space on new privately owned rockets and spacecraft. The idea was to allow time for new space companies to establish themselves before falling under the burden of regulations, an eventuality that spaceflight startups argued could impede the industry’s development. The moratorium is also known as a “learning period,” a term that describes the purpose of the provision. It’s supposed to give companies and the Federal Aviation Administration — the agency tasked with overseeing commercial human spaceflight, launch, and re-entry operations — time to learn how to safely fly in space and develop smart regulations, those that make spaceflight safer but don’t restrict innovation. Without action from Congress, by the end of September, the moratorium on human spaceflight regulations will expire. That has many in the commercial space industry concerned.

The House Science Committee is considering a commercial space bill that might extend the learning period, but the content of the bill hasn’t been released yet. Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), chair of the House Science Committee, said one of his priorities in developing the space bill is ensuring a “thoughtful regulatory environment that supports innovation.” Given the hotly partisan tenor of Capitol Hill and a range of other priorities, it’s not clear if the bill — whatever it says — can be passed before October 1. “Things are sort of moving, but… how do you deal with the moratorium? Can you get that by October 1 and get something passed? Is that something everyone can agree to, or is that going to get bogged down? You just don’t know right now, and that’s just a bad place to be,” said Allen Cutler, president of the Coalition for Deep Space Exploration, in a panel discussion at the John Glenn Memorial Symposium earlier this month.