The Trump administration continues to jettison smothering federal regulations. The latest focus is space.
Among the Trump administration’s first efforts will be an overhaul of the bureaucratic processes to license a launch, which is handled by the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation. Under the proposal, which is expected to be completed by March 2019, a launch and re-entry, regardless of vehicle type, will require only one license from the Department of Transportation.
Currently, such licenses are too restrictive and apply only to a single site or specified period, Vice President Mike Pence said at the meeting held at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
“The government’s figured out how to honor drivers’ licenses across state lines,” Pence said. “There’s no reason we can’t do the same for rockets.” Pence leads the council, which Trump revived last summer to coordinate U.S. space policy.
Excellent. The president clearly realizes that burdensome regulation is the enemy of entrepreneurship and innovation. Thankfully, legislative leaders recognize it in North Carolina as well — and they’re doing something about it.
