WASHINGTON — US commercial space firms are by and large welcoming a Commerce Department proposal for a one-stop licensing shop for currently unregulated operations, including a number of new missions — such as on-orbit refueling, satellite repair and close-up inspections — that the Space Force hopes to be able to at least partially outsource to commercial firms in the future.
“For years, the space industry has discussed the uncertainty facing companies seeking government approval of new activities in space — a loophole that left no federal agency with clear authority to authorize commercial space operations like in-space manufacturing or space-based power generation,”president of the Commercial Space Foundation Dave Cavossa told Breaking Defense. The Department of Commerce proposal closes the loophole by setting up a voluntary framework bound by deadlines for the government to approve or deny an activity.
“By providing a predictable and repeatable pathway to launch, this proposal will help the administration meet and exceed their goal to attract at least $50 billion of new investment in American space markets,” he added.
“[At] first look, companies are happy about it,” another industry representative said.
Eric Fanning, president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association, told Breaking Defense that “this is the right moment” for moving out on mission authorization, and praised Commerce putting a focus on “safety and responsible operations” to support space sustainability over time.
“As implementation moves forward, it’s important to have clear accountability across agencies, guardrails against regulatory creep, and the predictability companies need to invest for the long term. We look forward to continuing to work with the government as the details take shape,” he said.
The draft Commerce Department proposal, issued March 24, was mandated by President Donald Trump’s August 2025 executive order on enhancing the competitiveness of the US commercial space sector on the global market. It would upend a proposal for a new regulatory regime for what is known as “mission authorization” of novel space activities made by the Biden administration, instead creating a voluntary certification process, with a presumption of approval, spearheaded by its Office of Space Commerce for industry planning currently unregulated missions.
“Our proposal expedites and streamlines today’s laborious and sometimes duplicative system for regulating the commercial space industry with a consolidated space commerce certification process,” the Commerce Department draft proposal states. Our new ‘Space Commerce Certification’ can get companies to ‘yes’ with predictability and speed, allowing them to swiftly explore new technologies and missions to bring benefits to the American economy.”
Companies would still require licenses from other regulatory bodies — the Federal Communications Commission that regulates use of spectrum, the Federal Aviation Administration responsible for ensuring spaceflight safety, and Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that licenses remote sensing operations — and those bodies would still be able to weigh in within 30 days with any objections.
However, the Office of Space Commerce would be in charge of coordinating the process and working out any kinks with other agencies, with an eye to issuing a certification within 120 days.
Further, because the plan is voluntary, the Office of Space Commerce also could “waive certain regulatory requirements imposed through current regulatory or licensing frameworks.”
That said, Clayton Swope, deputy director of the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said there is a likelihood that some companies won’t see any value to going through the process.
“It adds a new layer of red tape on top of existing paperwork. It would give the interagency essentially a blank check to express concerns with what innovative U.S. companies are doing in space. What happens if an agency expresses concerns? Are companies required to address the concerns? What happens when [the Office of Space Commerce] withholds a certification based on interagency concerns? Presumably, the mission could not go forward. What is the benefit to a company to volunteer for a process that could kill its business plan?” he said.
Further, he noted, although Commerce can grant such voluntary certifications, it cannot actually impose any regulations without congressional authorization — and the issue has long been a bone of contention on Capitol Hill.
“Under this plan, the process will have no teeth,” Swope said.
A decision to take the Commerce proposed scheme to Congress for codification would need to be made by the White House. And at the moment, the industry representative said, the “White House wants to hear industry feedback before they fully endorse the certification process.”
