2024-20900. U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act Incorporation

Table 1—Changes by Section

Section	Change	Effect of change
§ 401.5 Definitions	Add definitions for “Government Astronaut,” “International partner astronaut,” and “International Space Station Intergovernmental Agreement.” Revising definitions for “Human space flight incident,” “Launch,” “Launch accident,” “Reenter,” “Reentry accident,” and “Space flight participant”	None. The FAA has been applying these definitions in accordance with the statute since the CSLCA went into effect. This change provides regulatory clarity.
§ 401.7 Definitions	Add definitions for “Government Astronaut,” “International partner astronaut,” and “International Space Station Intergovernmental Agreement.” Revising definition for “Space flight participant”	None. The FAA has been applying these definitions in accordance with the statute since the CSLCA went into effect. This change provides regulatory clarity.
§ 413.3(f)	Replace the term “rocket” with the term “vehicle” to align with the increase in scope from § 437.3	None. The FAA has been applying these definitions in accordance with the statute since the CSLCA went into effect. This change provides regulatory clarity.
§ 415.8 Human Space Flight in Part 415, LAUNCH LICENSE	Replace “flight crew or a space flight participant” with “a space flight participant, crew, or government astronaut.” Add sections 460.59, 460.61, and 460.67 to the list of sections with which an applicant proposing to conduct a launch with a space flight participant, crew, or government astronaut on board must demonstrate compliance	None. The FAA has been applying these requirements to government astronauts in accordance with the statute since the CSLCA went into effect. This change provides regulatory clarity.
§ 431.8 Human Space Flight in Part 431, LAUNCH AND REENTRY OF A REUSABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE (RLV)	Replace “flight crew or a space flight participant” with “a space flight participant, crew, or government astronaut.” Add sections 460.59, 460.61, and 460.67 to the list of sections with which an applicant proposing to conduct a launch with a space flight participant, crew, or government astronaut on board must demonstrate compliance	None. The FAA has been applying these requirements to government astronauts in accordance with the statute since the CSLCA went into effect. This change provides regulatory clarity.
§ 435.8 Human Space Flight in Part 435, REENTRY OF A REENTRY VEHICLE OTHER THAN A REUSABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE (RLV)	Replace “flight crew or a space flight participant” with “a space flight participant, crew, or government astronaut.” Add sections 460.59, 460.61, and 460.67 to the list of sections with which an applicant proposing to conduct a launch with a space flight participant, crew, or government astronaut on board must demonstrate compliance	None. The FAA has been applying these requirements to government astronauts in accordance with the statute since the CSLCA went into effect. This change provides regulatory clarity.
§ 437.3 Definitions in Part 437, EXPERIMENTAL PERMITS	Replaced suborbital rocket with suborbital vehicle in the definitions for “envelope expansion”, “exclusion area”, and “reentry impact point”. Updated the definition of “permitted vehicle” to include reusable launch vehicles that are launched on a suborbital trajectory or are reentered. Updated the definition of “permitted vehicle” to add that it includes “a reusable launch vehicle that will be launched into a suborbital trajectory or reentered from a suborbital trajectory”	None. The FAA has been applying these definitions in accordance with the statute since the CSLCA went into effect. This change provides regulatory clarity.
§§ 437.5, 437.7, 437.9, 437.21, 437.23, 437.25, 437.31, 437.33, 437.53, 437.57, 437.59, 437.61, 437.71, 437.85., 437.91, and 437.95	Replace “suborbital rocket” with “reusable suborbital vehicle”	None. The FAA has been applying these definitions in accordance with the statute since the CSLCA went into effect. This change provides regulatory clarity.
§ 437.5(a)	Remove “new” to allow research and development of existing design concepts, equipment, or operating techniques	None. The FAA has been applying these definitions in accordance with the statute since the CSLCA went into effect. This change provides regulatory clarity.
§ 437.21(b)(3)	Replace “flight crew or a space flight participant” with “a space flight participant, crew, or government astronaut.” Add sections 460.59, 460.61, and 460.67 to the list of sections with which an applicant proposing to conduct a launch with a space flight participant, crew, or government astronaut on board must demonstrate compliance	None. The FAA has been applying these requirements to government astronauts in accordance with the statute since the CSLCA went into effect. This change provides regulatory clarity.
Move appendices B-E in part 440, FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, to an AC.		None.
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§ 440.3	Revise definition of permit and permitted activity. Exclude government astronaut from losses to government personnel in the definition of “MPL””. Exclude government astronaut from the definition of “Third party”	None. Updates to the definition of permit and permitted activity align statue with current practice. Excluding government astronaut from third party means that they are not included in MPL calculations and are prevented from making claims as third parties in alignment with current practice. Government astronauts that are employed by the US government would be covered by insurance required under § 440.9(b) because they are government personnel.
§ 440.9(b)	Add space flight participants to the list in which a licensee or permittee must obtain and maintain in effect a policy or policies of liability insurance to protect their respective potential liabilities against covered claims by a third party for bodily injury or property damage resulting from a licensed or permitted activity	None. The FAA has been requiring the addition of space flight participants to the insurance requirements with operators in accordance with the statute since the CSLCA went into effect. This change provides regulatory clarity.
§ 440.17(c), (d), and (e)	Add language to require the licensee or permittee to enter into a reciprocal waiver of claims agreement, in a form acceptable to the Administrator such as those contained in advisory circular AC 440.17-1, with each space flight participant	None. The FAA has been requiring reciprocal waiver of claims in accordance with existing regulations. This change provides regulatory flexibility by moving the templates from regulatory language to an advisory circular.
§ 440.17(f) and (g)	Add requirement for reciprocal waiver of claims between operators and space flight participants as section (f). Move current section (f) to section (g)	None. The FAA has been requiring reciprocal waiver of claims between operators and space flight participants in accordance with the statute since the CSLCA went into effect. This change provides regulatory clarity. Current section (f) is moved to section (g) without changes to accommodate the addition of section (f).
§ 450.45(e)(3)(ii)(E) Human Space Flight in part 450	Replace “rocket's” with “vehicle's”	None. The FAA has been applying these definitions in accordance with the statute since the CSLCA went into effect. This change provides regulatory clarity.
§ 450.45(e)(5)	Replace “flight crew or a space flight participant” with “a space flight participant, crew, or government astronaut.” Add sections 460.59, 460.61, and 460.67 to the list of sections with which an applicant proposing to conduct a launch with a space flight participant, crew, or government astronaut on board must demonstrate compliance	None. The FAA has been applying these requirements in accordance with the statute since the CSLCA went into effect. This change provides regulatory clarity.
Add Subpart C, Launch and Reentry with a Government Astronaut With a Safety-Critical Role, after Subpart B in § 460 Scope, HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT REQUIREMENTS	Add requirements applicable to government astronauts with a safety-critical role	None. Operators have been training government astronauts in order to satisfy NASA contractual requirements. This change makes some of that training required by regulation.
Add Subpart D, Launch and Reentry with a Government Astronaut Without a Safety-Critical Role after Subpart C in § 460 Scope, HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT REQUIREMENTS	Add requirements applicable to government astronauts without a safety-critical role	None. Operators have been training government astronauts in order to satisfy NASA contractual requirements. This change makes some of that training required by regulation.