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FAA to restrict commercial rocket launches to overnight hours
- downrightmike 11mo ago[flagged]
- plussed_reader 11mo ago[flagged]
- rasz 11mo ago[flagged]
- Scaevolus 11mo agoWhich commercial rocket launches care about planetary alignments?
- kristofferR 11mo agoIt's right in the article: "One launch hoping to get off the ground before the order goes into effect is NASA's ESCAPADE mission to Mars. The Rocket Lab-built twin orbiters are scheduled to liftoff on a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket at 2:45 p.m. EST (1945 GMT) on Nov. 9. The impending restrictions mean the ESCAPADE mission won't have a chance to reset for a second launch attempt if the Nov. 9 liftoff is scrubbed for some reason." Don't forget that commercial launches may still have a government/science org as their customer in question.
- dylan604 11mo agoFrom TFA: "One launch hoping to get off the ground before the order goes into effect is NASA's ESCAPADE mission to Mars. The Rocket Lab-built twin orbiters are scheduled to liftoff on a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket at 2:45 p.m. EST (1945 GMT) on Nov. 9. The impending restrictions mean the ESCAPADE mission won't have a chance to reset for a second launch attempt if the Nov. 9 liftoff is scrubbed for some reason." So it sounds like Blue Origin would be concerned
- adastra22 11mo agoMost (all?) NASA spacecraft fly on commercial launches these days.
- wat10000 11mo agoThere pretty much aren't any other kinds these days. The only noncommercial launcher currently flying is SLS, and "currently flying" is a bit of a stretch. The last launch was three years ago and the next one won't be until next year at the earliest.
- terminalshort 11mo agoThose which are launching payloads outside of Earth orbit. However the launch windows for those tend to be wider and not rely on time of day so much. It's the rockets that need to hit a particular slot in Earth orbit that need to launch at an exact time of day.
- deleted 11mo ago[deleted]
- estimator7292 11mo ago[flagged]
- encrypted_bird 11mo agoThere is no need for namecalling. This is HN. Please be respectful of your fellow commenters, even if you think they're being a walnut.
- JumpCrisscross 11mo agoYou’re right. But the correct response is to flag, not comment. (I’m commenting because I love the insult and already know I am going to call everyone I love or respect a walnut for a few weeks.)
- encrypted_bird 11mo ago> But the corrext response is to flag, not comment. Oh? Apologies then. Either I did not realize or I didn't remember. Either way, I'll try my best to remember in the future! Thanks! Also, yes, I love the insult too when used in a friendly way.
- JumpCrisscross 11mo ago> Oh? Apologies then None owed. You walnut :)
- encrypted_bird 11mo agoHaha ;D
- antod 11mo agoI thought they were currently addressing any risks by restricting air traffic?
- aw1621107 11mo agoThe actual order is here: https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/FAA-Emergency-Order-11-6-25.pdf https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/FAA-Emergency-Order-11-6-25.pdf Unfortunately, the article title is somewhat incomplete, as the restriction on commercial rocket launches is only for certain hours (for now, at least): > Accordingly, with respect to commercial space launches and reentries, under the authority provided to the FAA Administrator by 49 U.S.C. §§ 40103, 40113, and 46105(c), and authority delegated to the FAA Administrator under 51 U.S.C. § 50909(a), it is hereby ordered that, beginning at 6:00 a.m. EST on November 10, 2025, and until this Order is cancelled, Commercial space launches and reentries will only be permitted between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. local time.
- deleted 11mo ago[deleted]
- primer42 11mo agoThe article mentions the hours... > Beginning 6 a.m. EST (1100 GMT) on Nov. 10, commercial launches to space can only take place between the hours of 10 p.m. EST (0300 GMT) and 6 a.m. EST (1100 GMT), according to the FAA order.
- deleted 11mo ago[deleted]
- testdelacc1 11mo ago[flagged]
- decremental 11mo ago[dead]
- aidenn0 11mo ago> commercial launches to space can only take place between the hours of 10 p.m. EST (0300 GMT) and 6 a.m. EST (1100 GMT), That's going to really piss off everyone around Ventura, CA (they get the sonic-boom when landing a booster on a barge for most launch trajectories from Vandenberg).
- jonah 11mo agoAs someone who lives close enough to Vandenberg to watch launches from my front porch, this is going to really be disruptive. Squeezing all the launches into the overnight hours is going to be rough.
- flerchin 11mo agoThese orders, while written like they're orders, seem to be suggestions? They first ordered 20% flight reductions at major hubs, and 10% at minor hubs. Now the airlines have cancelled low single digit percentages. This is easily viewable at flightaware. https://www.flightaware.com/live/cancelled/today https://www.flightaware.com/live/cancelled/today
- galaxy_gas 11mo agoThe announcement say 4% Friday increase to 10% next week gradual ramp
- singron 11mo agoSource: https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/FAA-Emergency-Order-11-6-25.pdf https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/FAA-Emergency-Order-11-6-25.pdf The order also only applies to domestic flights, so observed percentages on flightaware will be lower than those in the order.
- londons_explore 11mo agoI really want this to be the thing that pushes the industry into automated air traffic control. It's not even technically difficult - we only allow error-prone humans to do the job because of inertia. Build the system now, and then next time there is a government shutdown or shortage of air traffic controllers, we can say 'only planes equipped with an ipad with automatic air traffic control are allowed to fly'. Within 24h every plane in the nation will be equipped.
- Abekkus 11mo agoWe can’t trust general use self driving cars yet. Air traffic control is a bit riskier than that
- kayodelycaon 11mo agoThere’s a lot of automation that can be done to reduce the workload of controllers. Making an autopilot for airplanes is significantly easier than cars.
- stealthlogic 11mo ago[dead]
- terminalshort 11mo agoIf this were really about safety it would be all rockets, not just commercial. It's not like saying "nobody fly in this area at this time" is actually difficult.
- bdcravens 11mo agoWhich non-commercial rockets are launching these days? Isn't pretty much everything public outsourced to commercial operators?
- JumpCrisscross 11mo ago[flagged]
- jonah 11mo agoOh, also: 1. When an FAA owned and operated facility does not have adequate staffing levels, ATC may elect not to provide the following services: a. Radar Traffic Information Service; b. Radar Assistance to visual flight rule (VFR) aircraft; c. Terminal Radar Services for VFR aircraft; d. VFR Traffic Pattern Operations; e. Practice Approaches to VFR aircraft; f. Flight checks services to restore inoperable equipment and approaches; g. ATC services to parachute operations; or, h. ATC services to certain special or unusual operations
- kylehotchkiss 11mo agoGiven the current situation, cutting back on private aviation to allow our air traffic controllers, who are picking up second jobs, seems prudent.
- goku12 11mo agoPrudent, yes. But are all of those private aviation? Doesn't commercial civilian and military aviation include any VFR flights? Some of them also sound like emergency/rescue operations.
- rainsford 11mo agoNothing will actually stop those VFR flights from still happening, they'll just be less convenient/safe without certain ATC services. If those services are truly required, they can do IFR instead. So can private pilots just flying for fun for that matter, assuming the pilot has the right rating.
- deleted 11mo ago[deleted]
- rainsford 11mo agoThe VFR stuff is always optional for ATC. VFR aircraft can request those things and ATC will usually accommodate, but it's workload dependent and ATC can and does decline, that's the whole tradeoff of flying under VFR rules. I'm less sure on the others, but I'm pretty sure they're all optional as well for ATC. Now the difference might be that ATC will be more likely to deny these requests, which could be somewhat disruptive to flights that were expecting to be approved. But it should never be assumed so hopefully they have backup plans.
- slenk 11mo agoOfficially no reason to ever visit Florida now
- 1970-01-01 11mo agoOk, now how small can they make this window? How much is the fine compared to missing several launch windows? I envision a point on a graph where it is still profitable for SpaceX to launch and ignore the FAA should they collapse the launch window to 2 nights/month or thereabout. If the FAA is forced to continue maintaining US airspace with a skeleton crew, someone will absolutely try and get away with launching more than they should.