Proposed rule · 2026-22784

Conditional Expected Casualty Exception for Failures Resulting in an Uncontrolled Atmospheric Return

FAA proposes to amend its commercial space launch and reentry licensing regulations to streamline the licensing process and reduce regulatory burden for license applicants. Specifically, FAA proposes to allow a launch and reentry vehicle operator to protect against high consequence events during an uncontrolled atmospheric return by showing that there would be sufficient breakup of the vehicle to ensure protection against a single event expected to produce multiple casualties.