WASHINGTON — A brief-term funding bill passed on the last minute features a three-month extension of the “learning period” limiting regulations on business spaceflight participant safety.
The House of Representatives and the Senate passed Sept. 30 a seamless resolution (CR) funding the federal government through Nov. 17. The bill passed by wide margins in each chambers and was signed into law by President Biden hours before the federal government would have faced a shutdown from a lapse of appropriations at the beginning of the 2024 fiscal 12 months.
Included within the CR was a three-month reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration, whose previous authorization was also expiring at the tip of September. Congress has been debating, but has yet to finalize, a long-term reauthorization for the agency.
Among the many provisions in that FAA reauthorization was a three-month extension of the present restrictions on the FAA’s ability to manage safety for business spaceflight participants. That restriction, often called a “learning period” by the industry, was set to run out Oct. 1 but now runs until Jan. 1.
It’s unclear if the ultimate version of the FAA reauthorization will include a long-term extension of the educational period, sought by some each in industry and in Congress. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) introduced a standalone bill Sept. 21 that might extend the regulatory restriction by eight years, through September 2031. That bill was referred to the House Science Committee, which has yet to take it up.
The expiration of the educational period wouldn’t immediately result in any regulations regarding the security of spaceflight participants on business spacecraft. In an interview in September, Kelvin Coleman, associate administrator of business space transportation on the FAA, envisioned a long-term process to develop regulations, starting with a space-related aerospace rulemaking committee established this summer that features members of industry and academia to start studies of potential future regulation.
“Regulations take years to actually do, and do right,” he said. “For my part, really to get it right you wish somewhere between three to 5 years.”
The last-minute CR avoided a government shutdown that had looked all but inevitable because the Republican-led House did not pass spending bills, while the Democratic-led Senate was making slow progress by itself CR. Government agencies made plans to stop nonessential activities, which for NASA would have limited the agency primarily to operations of the International Space Station and other ongoing missions, in addition to preparations for the Oct. 12 launch of the Psyche mission.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, in a Sept. 29 statement, warned a shutdown would have serious effects on the agency, blaming House Republicans. “If House Republicans force a shutdown, it is going to have devastating consequences for NASA, families across the country and America’s global competitiveness,” said Nelson, who previously represented Florida within the House and Senate as a Democrat.