[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 163 (Tuesday, August 23, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52732-52733]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-21423]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

[Docket No. 2011-0435]


Office of Commercial Space Transportation Notice of Intent To 
Publish Current and Future Launch, Site, and Reentry Licenses and 
Permits and Their Orders Online

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is changing the way 
the Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) makes its permits, 
licenses, and all accompanying orders (authorizations) available to the 
public. The FAA intends to post all current and future authorizations 
online on the AST Web site \1\ beginning on October 24, 2011. The FAA 
will not publish license or permit applications or evaluations. The FAA 
has determined that posting authorizations online will allow it to more 
effectively and efficiently inform the public of its commercial space 
transportation permit and license determinations.
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    \1\ The AST website address is http://faa.gov/go/ast. The FAA 
proposes to post launch, reentry and site licenses in the Commercial 
Space Data--Active Licenses section at http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/launch_data/current_licenses/. The FAA proposes to post permits in the Commercial Space 
Data--Active Permits section at http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/launch_data/current_permits/.

DATES: Please submit any comments on or before September 22, 2011. 
Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical 
to do so, but assurance of consideration cannot be given except as to 
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comments received on or before this date.

ADDRESSES: Send comments identified by Docket No. 2011-0435 using any 
of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and follow the online instructions for sending your 
comments electronically.
     Mail: Send comments to Docket Operations, M-30; U.S. 
Department of Transportation (DOT), 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Room 
W12-140, West Building Ground Floor, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: Take comments to Docket 
Operations in Room W12-140 of the West Building Ground Floor at 1200 
New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
     Fax: Fax comments to Docket Operations at 202-493-2251.
    Privacy: The FAA will post all comments it receives, without 
change, to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal 
information the commenter provides. Using the search function of the 
docket Web site, anyone can find and read the electronic form of all 
comments received into any FAA dockets, including the name of the 
individual sending the comment (or signing the comment for an 
association, business, labor union, etc.). DOT's complete Privacy Act 
Statement can be found in the Federal Register published on April 11, 
2000 (65 FR 19477-19478), as well as at http://DocketsInfo.dot.gov.
    Docket: Background documents or comments received may be read at 
http://www.regulations.gov at any time. Follow the online instructions 
for accessing the docket or Docket Operations in Room W12-140 of the 
West Building Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, 
DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical questions concerning 
this notice contact Charles P. Brinkman, Licensing Program Lead, 
Commercial Space Transportation--Licensing and Evaluation Division, 
Office of Commercial Space Transportation, Federal Aviation 
Administration, 800 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20591; 
telephone (202) 267-7715; e-mail: [email protected]. For legal 
questions concerning this notice contact Laura Montgomery, Senior 
Attorney for Commercial Space Transportation, AGC-200, Office of the 
Chief Counsel, Regulations Division, Federal Aviation Administration, 
800 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20591; telephone (202) 
267-3150; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    The Secretary of Transportation has the authority to issue 
commercial space transportation permits and licenses for commercial 
launch, reentry, and launch and reentry site operations. 51 U.S.C.

[[Page 52733]]

50901(b)(3). A license is required to launch a launch vehicle, reenter 
a reentry vehicle, or operate a launch or reentry site within the 
United States or by a U.S. citizen. 51 U.S.C. 50904(a)(1)-(4). The FAA 
issues permits for the launch of reusable suborbital rockets pursuant 
to the requirements of 51 U.S.C. 50906. Title 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(2) 
applies to final authorizations the FAA issues to an applicant, and the 
FAA should therefore make authorizations ``available for public 
inspection, and copying.'' 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(2).
    In compliance with the Administrative Procedure Act, as well as 
recent guidance from the White House, the FAA is planning to post all 
current and future authorizations online in order to increase agency 
efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency. The FAA receives Freedom 
of Information Act (FOIA) requests for authorizations, and publishing 
this information online would save the agency both the time and 
resources used to process and respond to these FOIA requests. The 
President's recent memorandum on regulatory compliance encourages 
agencies to make readily accessible to the public information 
concerning their regulatory compliance and enforcement activities. 
Presidential Memoranda--Regulatory Compliance (January 18, 2011); 
available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/01/18/presidential-memoranda-regulatory-compliance. Publishing authorizations 
online furthers the FAA's goal of transparency, openness, and public 
access by making it easier and faster for the public to obtain 
information regarding AST licensing and permit activities.
    Information contained in authorizations is typically not 
confidential. Typical information provided in a launch license or 
permit and any accompanying orders includes the specific types of 
vehicles the authorization applies to, the launch location, and the 
amount of liability and government property insurance the FAA requires 
the authorized entity to maintain. Launch licenses also include the 
term of the license, the authorized azimuths of the launch vehicle, and 
any type of payload. In some cases, such as a Pegasus launch or a 
launch under a permit, the launch license will define when flight 
begins. Insurance information has historically been published on the 
FAA website. Information including the launch area and the date and 
time of the launch is provided in publicly available notices to airmen 
and mariners.\2\
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    \2\ Notices to airmen and mariners are publicly available on the 
FAA Web site for two months after their effective date at: http://tfr.faa.gov/tfr2/list.html.
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    Information in a site license includes the site location, site 
activities, type of launch vehicle authorized for the site, and the 
term of the license.
    Information provided in a reentry license includes the term of the 
license, the term of insurance coverage, and the nominal reentry 
locations. The insurance information is publicly available, now on the 
FAA's Web site, and the nominal reentry area locations are publicly 
available in notices to airmen and mariners.
    Notices to airmen and mariners are publicly available documents, 
but they do not provide the same information contained in a license. A 
notice to airmen and mariners will contain coordinates for an area to 
alert airmen and mariners of hazards during a specified time period for 
safety reasons. For reentry, this area is calculated based on the 
reentry vehicle's possible impact points. While launch locations are 
generally well-known because launches occur from established launch 
pads, reentry locations may be the result of an operator's own 
calculations and decisions. Notices to airmen that restrict air traffic 
during a reentry do not provide the nominal reentry points that the FAA 
currently includes in the operator's license. Therefore, operators may 
have concerns about reverse engineering using the reentry data provided 
in licenses. While the FAA will continue to include nominal and 
contingency reentry points in authorizations, operators will have the 
opportunity to request that the information be redacted from online 
publication if they consider it confidential. If an operator makes such 
a request, the FAA will examine the operator's rationale and make a 
determination regarding whether or not the information is confidential.
    Most licenses and permits do not contain confidential information 
or data. However, for those occasions where specific license terms or 
conditions reflect circumstances unique to a particular operator, there 
are protections available under the statute and regulations. Applicants 
for a license can protect trade secrets or proprietary commercial or 
financial data by requesting in writing that the information be treated 
as confidential at the time it is submitted. 14 CFR 413.9(a). 
Information or data the applicant wishes to protect must be clearly 
marked with an identifying legend, or cover sheet containing an 
identifying legend. 14 CFR 413.9(b).
    The FOIA exempts from mandatory disclosure trade secrets and 
privileged or confidential commercial or financial information. 5 
U.S.C. 552(b)(4). Information that ``is designated as confidential by 
the person or head of the executive agency providing the information'' 
or that qualifies for an exemption under FOIA can be disclosed by the 
Secretary of Transportation, an officer or employee of the United 
States Government, or a person making a contract with the Secretary 
under section 50906(b) of this title ``if the Secretary decides that 
the withholding of the information or data is contrary to the public or 
national interest.'' 51 U.S.C. 50916; 14 CFR 413.9(d).
    In some cases, licenses contain specific terms and conditions 
tailored for a particular licensee. Even so, terms and conditions 
typically do not contain confidential information, and the FAA will 
publish these terms and conditions online. The terms may have a useful 
effect that others may want to be aware of. In the event that the terms 
and conditions contain confidential information, the licensee can 
follow the procedures to protect confidential information described 
above. The FAA will be providing the public with potentially useful 
information by making this information more readily available through 
online publication.
    Before implementing this new policy, the FAA requests comment from 
the public, and is providing a period of 30 days for comment.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on August 5, 2011.
George C. Nield,
Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation.
[FR Doc. 2011-21423 Filed 8-22-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P