FAA to start charging launch fees

The Federal Aviation Administration said on April 22 that it will begin charging user fees for commercial space launches and reentries in 2026. (federalregister.gov) The fee applies to each launch or reentry flown under a license or experimental permit issued under 51 U.S.C. 50904, the statute the agency uses to regulate commercial space operations. (federalregister.gov) (uscode.house.gov) For calendar year 2026, the charge is the lesser of 25 cents per pound of payload or a flat $30,000 cap per mission. The law raises those figures to 35 cents per pound or $40,000 in 2027, then steps them up again through 2033. (uscode.house.gov) Congress created the fee in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Donald Trump signed on July 4, 2025. The Federal Register notice says the FAA is now implementing that statute rather than writing a new rule from scratch. (federalregister.gov) The money goes into a new Treasury account called the Office of Commercial Space Transportation Launch and Reentry Licensing and Permitting Fund. Under the statute, 70 percent of the money deposited there is available without further appropriation. (uscode.house.gov) That fund is tied to the Federal Aviation Administration office that reviews launch and reentry licenses as U.S. commercial space traffic keeps rising. The law also links the account to technology for reintegrating launches and reentries into the national airspace system. (uscode.house.gov) (faa.gov) The timing matters for operators because the agency has also finished moving all licensing onto its Part 450 rulebook. On March 17, the FAA said SpaceX Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, Blue Origin New Shepard, Rocket Lab Electron, Firefly Alpha, and United Launch Alliance Atlas and Vulcan had transitioned by the March 9 deadline. (faa.gov) Part 450 was designed to let one license cover a portfolio of missions, vehicle configurations, and sites. The FAA said that change cut administrative burden, but the new fee means every licensed launch and reentry now carries a direct federal charge as well. (faa.gov) (federalregister.gov) The FAA said operators are liable for the fee for all launches and reentries conducted in 2026 even if their license paperwork has not yet been updated with the new payment terms. That makes the start date less about future applications than about flights actually carried out this year. (federalregister.gov) For launch companies, the old system of federally funded oversight is ending with a posted price per mission. The number starts small for 2026, but the law already sets a higher schedule for every year that follows. (uscode.house.gov)