CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A new Federal Aviation Administration emergency order is forcing commercial space companies to adjust their schedules.
Beginning Monday, launches and reentries will only be allowed between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., halting commercial activity during peak daytime hours until further notice.
According to Don Platt, the department head for aerospace, physics and space sciences at Florida Tech, the move is aimed at reducing strain on air traffic systems during already busy flight times.
“For air traffic, they’re cutting down on overall traffic,” Platt explained.
“It makes sense there would be concerns about having launches take place during those very busy morning hours,” he added.
But the limitations could reach beyond launch windows. Platt says the FAA’s workload may delay the review of pending commercial applications.
“If this goes on, there’s not going to be people at the FAA with the time to review all of these applications,” Platt said.
“And then, of course, space also has a requirement of communications licenses for their RF systems or radios. And so that for the commercial world goes through the FCC. And so, they could have some issues there too,” he said.
So far this year, Florida’s Space Coast has seen 92 launches.
United Launch Alliance continues preparations for its ViaSat-3 mission, while Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket, carrying a pair of NASA satellites bound for Mars, could still lift off as soon as Sunday.
“The next Blue Origin should be the ESCAPADE mission to Mars,” said Platt. “That’s considered a national priority, so that launch should probably go as planned.”
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