You are using an unsupported browser. This web site is designed for the current versions of Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Safari.
The Office of the Federal Register publishes documents on behalf of Federal agencies but does not have any authority over their programs. We recommend you directly contact the agency associated with the content in question.
If you have comments or suggestions on how to improve the www.ecfr.gov website or have questions about using www.ecfr.gov, please choose the 'Website Feedback' button below.
If you would like to comment on the current content, please use the 'Content Feedback' button below for instructions on contacting the issuing agency
Enhanced content is provided to the user to provide additional context.
This content is from the eCFR and is authoritative but unofficial.
Navigate by entering citations or phrases (eg: 1 CFR 1.1 49 CFR 172.101 Organization and Purpose 1/1.1 Regulation Y FAR).
Choosing an item from citations and headings will bring you directly to the content. Choosing an item from full text search results will bring you to those results. Pressing enter in the search box will also bring you to search results.
Background and more details are available in the Search & Navigation guide.
| Subpart D | Terms and Conditions of a Vehicle Operator License | 450.201 – 450.219 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Docket No. FAA-2019-0229, Amdt. 450-2, 85 FR 79719, Dec. 10, 202085 FR 79739, Dec. 10, 2020, unless otherwise noted.
This content is from the eCFR and may include recent changes applied to the CFR. The official, published CFR, is updated annually and available below under "Published Edition". You can learn more about the process here.
Subscribe to: 14 CFR Part 450 Subpart D
View the most recent official publication:
These links go to the official, published CFR, which is updated annually. As a result, it may not include the most recent changes applied to the CFR. Learn more.
Information and documentation can be found in our developer resources.
The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is the official legal print publication containing the codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the departments and agencies of the Federal Government. The Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR) is a continuously updated online version of the CFR. It is not an official legal edition of the CFR.
Learn more about the eCFR, its status, and the editorial process.
A licensee is responsible for ensuring public safety and safety of property during the conduct of a licensed launch or reentry.
A licensee must conduct a licensed launch or reentry in accordance with representations made in its license application, the requirements of subparts C and D of this part, and the terms and conditions contained in the license. A licensee's failure to act in accordance with the representations made in the license application, the requirements of subparts C and D of this part, and the terms and conditions contained in the license, is sufficient basis for the revocation of a license or other appropriate enforcement action.
A licensee must comply with financial responsibility requirements of part 440 of this chapter and as specified in a license or license order.
A licensee conducting a launch or reentry with a human being on board the vehicle must comply with human spaceflight requirements of part 460 of this chapter as specified in a license or license order.
(a) A licensee must allow access by, and cooperate with, Federal officers or employees or other individuals authorized by the FAA to observe any of its activities, or any of its contractors' or subcontractors' activities, associated with the conduct of a licensed launch or reentry.
(b) For each licensed launch or reentry, a licensee must provide the FAA with a console for monitoring the progress of the countdown and communication on all channels of the countdown communications network, unless the licensee has another acceptable means. A licensee must also provide the FAA with the capability to communicate with the mission director designated by § 450.103(a)(1).
(a) A licensee is responsible for the continuing accuracy of representations contained in its application for the entire term of the license.
(b) After a license has been issued, a licensee must apply to the FAA for modification of the license if—
(1) The licensee proposes to conduct a launch or reentry in a manner not authorized by the license; or
(2) Any representation contained in the license application that is material to public health and safety or the safety of property is no longer accurate and complete or does not reflect the licensee's procedures governing the actual conduct of a launch or reentry. A change is material to public health and safety or the safety of property if it alters or affects—
(i) The class of payload;
(ii) The type of launch or reentry vehicle;
(iii) The type or quantity of hazardous material;
(iv) The flight trajectory;
(v) The launch site or reentry site or other landing site; or
(vi) Any system, policy, procedure, requirement, criteria, or standard that is safety critical.
(c) An application to modify a license must be prepared and submitted in accordance with part 413 of this chapter. If requested during the application process, the FAA may approve an alternate method for requesting license modifications. The licensee must indicate any part of its license or license application that would be changed or affected by a proposed modification.
(d) Upon approval of a modification, the FAA issues either a written approval to the licensee or a license order amending the license if a stated term or condition of the license is changed, added, or deleted. An approval has the full force and effect of a license order and is part of the licensing record.
(a) Reporting method. A licensee must send the information in this section as an email attachment to ASTOperations@faa.gov, or other method as agreed to by the Administrator in the license.
(b) Mission information. A licensee must submit to the FAA the following mission-specific information no less than 60 days before each mission conducted under the license, unless the Administrator agrees to a different time frame in accordance with § 404.15 in the license, except when the information was provided in the license application:
(1) Payload information in accordance with § 450.43(i); and
(2) Planned mission information, including the vehicle, launch site, planned flight path, staging and impact locations, each payload delivery point, intended reentry or landing sites including any contingency abort location, and the location of any disposed launch or reentry vehicle stage or component that is deorbited.
(c) Flight abort and flight safety analysis products. A licensee must submit to the FAA updated flight abort and flight safety analysis products, using methodologies previously approved by the FAA, for each mission no less than 30 days before flight, unless the Administrator agrees to a different time frame in accordance with § 404.15 in the license.
(1) A licensee is not required to submit the flight abort and flight safety analysis products if—
(i) The analysis submitted in the license application satisfies all the requirements of this section; or
(ii) The licensee demonstrated during the application process that the analysis does not need to be updated to account for mission-specific factors.
(2) If a licensee is required to submit the flight abort and flight safety analysis products, the licensee—
(i) Must account for vehicle- and mission-specific input data;
(ii) Must account for potential variations in input data that may affect any analysis product within the final 30 days before flight;
(iii) Must submit the analysis products using the same format and organization used in its license application; and
(iv) May not change an analysis product within the final 30 days before flight unless the licensee has a process, approved in the license, for making a change in that period as part of the licensee's flight safety analysis process.
(d) Flight safety system test data. Any licensee that is required by § 450.101(c) to use a flight safety system to protect public safety must submit to the FAA, or provide the FAA access to, any test reports, in accordance with approved flight safety system test plans, no less than 30 days before flight, unless the Administrator agrees to a different time frame in accordance with § 404.15 in the license. These reports must include:
(1) A summary of the system, subsystem, and component-level test results, including all test failures and corrective actions implemented;
(2) A summary of test results demonstrating sufficient margin to predicted operating environments;
(3) A comparison matrix of the actual qualification and acceptance test levels used for each component in each test compared against the predicted flight levels for each environment, including any test tolerances allowed for each test; and
(4) A clear identification of any components qualified by similarity analysis or a combination of analysis and test.
(e) Collision avoidance analysis. A licensee must submit to a Federal entity identified by the FAA and to the FAA the collision avoidance information in appendix A to part 450 in accordance with § 450.169(f).
(f) Launch or reentry schedule. A licensee must file a launch or reentry schedule that identifies each review, rehearsal, and safety-critical operation. The schedule must be filed and updated in time to allow FAA personnel to participate in the reviews, rehearsals, and safety-critical operations.
(a) A licensee must submit to the FAA the information in paragraph (b) of this section no later than 90 days after a launch or reentry, unless the Administrator agrees to a different time frame in accordance with § 404.15 of this chapter.
(b) A licensee must send the following information as an email attachment to ASTOperations@faa.gov, or other method as agreed to by the Administrator in the license:
(1) Any anomaly that occurred during countdown or flight that is material to public health and safety and the safety of property;
(2) Any corrective action implemented or to be implemented after the flight due to an anomaly or mishap;
(3) The number of humans on board the vehicle;
(4) The actual trajectory flown by the vehicle, if requested by the FAA; and
(5) For an unguided suborbital launch vehicle, the actual impact location of all impacting stages and impacting components, if requested by the FAA.
(a) To assist the U.S. Government in implementing Article IV of the 1975 Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space, each licensee must submit to the FAA the information required by paragraph (b) of this section for all objects placed in space by a licensed launch, including a launch vehicle and any components, except any object owned and registered by the U.S. Government.
(b) For each object that must be registered in accordance with this section, no later than 30 days following the conduct of a licensed launch, a licensee must file the following information:
(1) The international designator of the space object;
(2) Date and location of launch;
(3) General function of the space object;
(4) Final orbital parameters, including:
(i) Nodal period;
(ii) Inclination;
(iii) Apogee;
(iv) Perigee; and
(5) Ownership, and country of ownership, of the space object.
(c) A licensee must notify the FAA when it removes an object that it has previously placed in space.
(a) Except as specified in paragraph (b) of this section, a licensee must maintain for 3 years all records, data, and other material necessary to verify that a launch or reentry is conducted in accordance with representations contained in the licensee's application, the requirements of subparts C and D of this part, and the terms and conditions contained in the license.
(b) For an event that meets any of paragraph (1) through (5) or paragraph (8) of the definition of “mishap” in § 401.7 of this chapter, a licensee must preserve all records related to the event. Records must be retained until completion of any Federal investigation and the FAA advises the licensee that the records need not be retained. The licensee must make all records required to be maintained under the regulations available to Federal officials for inspection and copying.