Hey, #TeamPete! Today it's my honor to take you a few feet down the rabbit hole that is the Office of Commercial Space Transportation as we #LearnAboutDOT.

The Office of Commercial Space Transportation, aka AST (?!) was established in 1984 as part of the office of the Secretary of Transportation within #DOT . In late 1995, the department was transferred to the FAA as the FAA's only space-related line of business.

From rocket launches to space planes, AST is responsible to ensure the protection of the public, property, & the national security and foreign policy interests of the U.S. during commercial launches or re-entry activities.

AST envisions how to integrate all the current & future ascent vehicles seamlessly into the National Airspace System (NAS). This includes any combination of aircraft, balloons, rockets, and space vehicles.

They also prepare for future aircraft that haven't been imagined yet! Their goal is to encourage, facilitate, and promote U.S. commercial space transportation by making sure we have the right regulations, at the right scope, at the right time.

AST regulates the US commercial space transportation industry, to ensure that we comply with our international obligations as well as our own requirements for the safety of people, property, national security, and American foreign policy interests.

AST encourages, facilitates, and promotes commercial space launches and reentries by the private sector; recommends changes to federal statutes, treaties, regulations, policies, plans & procedures.

They also strengthen & expand the US space transportation infrastructure by working with all those involved in every aspect of the commercial space industry, including the NEXT GENERATION of rocket engineers & scientists.

They join forces with executives across the industry, including representatives of the satellite industry, manufacturers and users of space transport technology, and state & local govt. officials nationally & internationally.

They also participate in the broader FAA Air Transportation Centers of Excellence (COE), which involves multi-year, multi-disciplinary partnerships of academia, industry, & government to address future challenges related to commercial space transportation.

Nine universities are currently COE members, located in Florida, New Mexico, California, Colorado, and Texas. Areas for research and development include Space Traffic Management & Operations (? roundabouts for all who want them?); Space Transportation Operations >

Technologies & Payloads; Human Spaceflight (!!); and Space Transportation Industry Viability.

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires the Office of Commercial Space (AST) to integrate environmental values into its decision-making process.

AST considers the environmental impacts of proposed actions & reasonable alternatives in order to make decisions based on an understanding of environmental consequences. AST takes actions that protect, restore, and enhance the environment.

The process to obtain commercial licensure and approval for commercial space transportation projects is, as you'd expect, complex and intensely regulated. We could do an entire thread or 3 on this (maybe next time).

Do you know that eight states have actual Spaceports? If you live in FL, CA, NM, TX, CO, AK, OK, TX, or VA - you have them! Check them out here: https://www.faa.gov/space/spaceports_by_state

According the DOT website, AST is/has been involved in 373 licensed launches, 22 licensed re-entries, 12 licensed spaceport operators, 46 experimental launches, with its current 24 active launch licensees.

Currently, the FAA is streamlining the regulations for launch/reentry activities to meet the growing demand for commercial space transportation. For more info, go here: https://www.faa.gov/space/ .