The mission of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation (AST) is to ensure public safety for licensed U.S. launch activities, and to support the continued growth and expansion of the U.S. space transportation industry. Safety is AST's top priority. To meet its safety responsibilities, AST undertakes a variety of core business functions to ensure that uninvolved persons are protected from the dangers and potential hazards associated with commercial space launch operations. These functions include making license determinations, conducting inspections of licensed operations, and developing rulemaking products related to commercial launch activities. Also, AST is driven to evolve its processes and approaches toward ensuring public safety as the commercial space transportation industry evolves. With a focus on the rapid evolution and complexity of new launch vehicles, AST will lead agency efforts to establish new processes to evaluate and approve safety critical launch vehicle components and systems. Further, AST will continue to improve its processes and leverage partnerships with other government organizations to enhance the safety of launches occurring from both federal and non-federal launch sites.


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