Title page 1

Contents 2

KEY TAKEAWAYS 1

INTRODUCTION 3

WHY THE UNITED STATES NEEDS A COMPETITIVE SPACE INDUSTRY 4

Space Industry Contributions to the U.S. Economy 4

Space Capabilities Lead to Innovation and Growth in Other Industries 5

Communications 5

Precision Agriculture 5

Disaster Prevention and Response 5

Positioning, Navigation, and Timing 5

Healthcare Science on the International Space Station 6

Space Capabilities Are Dual Use 6

THE SPACE INDUSTRY’S GREATEST REGULATORY CHALLENGES 6

Permitting for Launch and Reentry Vehicles 6

The Vehicle Licensing Process 7

The Impact of Part 450 8

What the EO Accomplishes 10

What Policymakers Should Do 10

SECURING SPECTRUM FOR LAUNCH OPERATIONS 11

What Policy Makers Should Do 12

AGING SPACEPORTS AND OPERATIONAL BOTTLENECKS 12

Increasing Use of Federal Ranges Is Causing Operational Bottlenecks 14

A Lack of Funding Means Current Spaceports Cannot Support the Growing Industry 16

What the EO Accomplishes 16

What Policy Makers Should Do 16

ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS 17

What the EO Accomplishes 18

What Policy Makers Should Do 19

CONCLUSION 19

ENDNOTES 20

Figures 4

Figure 1. Potential growth of the U.S. space economy (real value added, 2017 dollars) 4

Figure 2. AST licensing process flow chart 8

Figure 3. FAA/AST map of U.S. spaceports, March 2025 13

Figure 4. Government Accountability Office presentation of a launch site 14

Figure 5. Launches from U.S. federal ranges 15