Senate bill increases funding for FAA commercial space office but seeks regulatory reform -...

References:
faa.gov. (n.d.). Kelvin Coleman—Acting Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportationhttps://http://www.faa.gov/about/key_officials/coleman/

Senate.gov. (2018, Jun. 7). Committee Approves FY2019 Transportation, HUD Appropriations Bill. Retrieved from https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/news/committee-approves-fy2019-transportation-hud-appropriations-bill

"On June 7, 2018, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a spending bill for the Departments of Transportation (DOT) and Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which provides $24.981 million for the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation, or AST. That is an increase of nearly $2.4 million over what AST received in fiscal year 2018, and $3.4 million above the administration’s request. The House offered $24.917 million for AST in a bill approved by the House Appropriations Committee May 23.

A related issue, Coleman said at the Aerospace Corporation panel, was speeding up reviews of applications for launch licenses and experimental permits. The FAA is required to review license applications within 180 days and permit applications within 120 days of them being considered substantially complete.

“Those timeframes are typically not meeting the demand of business, so we have to deliver those products and services a lot faster,” he said. “We’re placing a big emphasis on keeping pace with business, and that means delivering our licenses and permits faster.”