The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced temporary limitations on the hours during which commercial space launches can occur, citing pressure on the air traffic control system stemming from the ongoing government shutdown. According to an order issued on November 6th, the FAA will restrict commercial launches to the hours between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. local time. This restriction went into effect at 6 a.m. Eastern Time on November 10th.
This measure is part of “other operational reductions” impacting the National Airspace System, detailed in the order. The primary focus of the order is to reduce the number of commercial flights at 40 major airports across the country by as much as 10% to ease the burden on air traffic control. The shutdown has resulted in unpaid air traffic controllers since early October, leading to increased absenteeism. This has placed a significant strain on the system, causing lengthy delays for commercial flights.
“While current mitigations have managed risk, delays are increasing, and additional mitigations are now necessary,” the FAA stated in its order. “With continued delays and unpredictable staffing shortages, which are driving fatigue, risk is further increasing, and the FAA is concerned with the system’s ability to maintain the current volume of operations.”
These new limitations on commercial launches, which lack recent precedent, may have a limited impact. The first launch potentially affected was a Falcon 9 launch of Starlink satellites, initially scheduled between 5:12 and 9:12 p.m. Eastern on November 10th from Cape Canaveral. Several other Falcon 9 launches within the following week might also be impacted, including the Transporter-15 rideshare mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 1:18 p.m. Eastern and two more Starlink missions from Florida on November 13th and 14th.
The timing of the order allowed Blue Origin to proceed with its second New Glenn launch attempt on the afternoon of November 9th from Cape Canaveral. However, any further delays would have prevented the launch until the order is rescinded. United Launch Alliance has not yet announced a new date for the Atlas 5 launch of the ViaSat-3 F2 satellite from the Cape, after valve problems caused scrubs on November 5th and 6th. These launches were scheduled for after 10 p.m. Eastern, meaning the mission might proceed with a potentially shorter launch window, assuming no significant delays.
The order provides the FAA with the flexibility to modify or remove these provisions at the request of an operator. “Once funding is restored and the FAA has confidence the stress in the system has adequately decreased, the FAA expects to roll back operational restrictions required by this order to restore normal operations,” the FAA confirmed in the order.