Title page

Contents

Highlights 2

Letter 5

Background 7

FAA's Licensing of Commercial Space Launch and Reentry Operations 8

The National Environmental Policy Act and Commercial Space Operations 10

FAA's Airspace Management Related to Commercial Space Operations 10

FAA Has Conducted Environmental Reviews in a Number of Ways and Determined That Potential Effects of Current Launch and Reentry Activities... 11

While the Form of FAA's Environmental Reviews May Vary, All Reviews Must Address the Same Potential Impact Categories 12

FAA Largely Based Its Assessments on Prior NEPA Reviews and Determined that Proposed Activities Under Current Licenses Were Not Expected... 17

FAA Considers the Impacts of Airspace Closures at Multiple Points in the Licensing and Launch and Reentry Processes 20

FAA Determines the Size, Duration, and Impacts of Airspace Closures Necessary to Protect Public Safety 20

Other FAA Efforts to Address the Impact of Commercial Space Operations on Airspace Users 26

Agency Comments 27

Appendix I: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 28

Table 1. The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Environmental Impact Categories 15

Table 2. National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Reviews Supporting Active Launch and Reentry Licenses as of July 2023 17

Table 3. Examples of Proposed Launch or Reentry Operations and the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Environmental Assessment Findings 18

Figure 1. Example of Airspace Closure for Commercial Space Launch 11

Figure 2. Representation of a Notice to Air Missions Announcing Airspace Closure Due to Commercial Space Launch 25