The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a Space Reentry Site Operator License to the Huntsville-Madison Airport Authority in Alabama Friday.
The license permits the authority to operate the Hunstville International Airport as a commercial space reentry site for Sierra Space Dream Chaser vehicles. The site will serve as a place to return to Earth after future NASA resupply missions to the International Space Station. Officials said the license is valid for five years.
Environmental and safety reviews are required as part of the FAA license evaluation process, the department said. Additionally, the FAA will work with the airport to develop the necessary notifications and other procedures that will help safely and efficiently integrate commercial space reentry into its operations.
According to the FAA, the authority will receive a Final Environmental Assessment and a Finding of No Significant Impact/Record of Decision for the airport’s reentry site license. The same final environmental documents cover the Sierra Space proposal to conduct up to eight reentry operations at the airport from 2023 to 2027.
Sierra Space cannot conduct any reentry operations at the airport until it obtains a Vehicle Operator License from the FAA, the department said. The FAA said the same applies to all other commercial space vehicle operators. The Huntsville Reentry site is the 14th FAA-licensed commercial spaceport in the United States.