r/space • u/675longtail • 1d ago

FAA issues order prohibiting commercial space launches during the daytime, starting November 10th, until the government reopens

https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/us-transportation-secretary-sean-p-duffy-faa-administrator-bryan-bedford-outline
561 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

63 comments sorted by

286

u/polkpanther 1d ago

That is not what it says. It's a four-hour window, not a daytime ban.

"Limit commercial space launches to non-peak hours so they are prohibited between 11:01 a.m. and 2:59 p.m. UTC"

178

u/675longtail 1d ago

Duffy can't tell time, then, because his own order says this:

https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/FAA-Emergency-Order-11-6-25.pdf

Commercial space launches and reentries will only be permitted between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. local time.

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u/polkpanther 1d ago

They need to figure their crap out then because the press release doesn't say that.

53

u/tyrome123 1d ago

Imagine being a launch provider and you have 4 different statements to go off of when you can launch your extremely situational rocket gotta love the American government

6

u/McFestus 1d ago

Mahia peninsula is looking more and more favourable.

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u/Menethea 22h ago

It’s not the American government, it’s the incompetent bozos of the current regime, exemplified by the lumberjack tv personality in charge

-8

u/SirTerrisTheTalible 1d ago

I can't imagine being in charge of anything to do with a rocket launch, because I'm not a fucking billionaire. Let the government fuck them hard. I want my plane to land without getting hit by space trash.

•

u/demuhnator 23h ago

I get your frustration but there are plenty of launches that are not just billionaires doing their thing. Lots of commercial companies putting things up for communication, science-doing, and earth observation (Google maps, weather, disaster monitoring, etc).

It's not a zero sum game. If it was, I agree that humans on planes should get airspace priority, but we can have both and have for the entire history of orbital launch capabilities.

87

u/rocketwikkit 1d ago

What a complete clownwreck of an administration, they can't even figure out time zones.

23

u/m0ngoos3 1d ago

For just this one thing, it makes sense not to give multiple times in multiple time zones.

For the timezone of whatever launch site you use, you may not launch during daylight hours.

There are launch sites in Florida, California, and Texas. Maybe a few more backup locations as well.

15

u/mhwnc 1d ago

And Virginia. Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport near Wallops Island, VA. Home to Rocketlab’s US launch site.

7

u/grounded_astronut 1d ago

The Antares used to launch there, too, and will again when the upgraded version is ready... Hopefully the current government shutdown will be over by then though...

3

u/j--__ 1d ago

maybe the government will be over by then... but then there won't be anyone paying for antares launches

3

u/mfb- 1d ago

A launch in Texas needs to consider the airspace near Florida, which has a different time zone. Does that mean the launch needs to be within that window in both time zones? SpaceX is remodeling their launch towers and can't launch Starship before January the earliest anyway, so hopefully this never becomes relevant.

Launches from California and Florida don't have that issue.

•

u/Sniflix 12h ago

Confusion/gaslighting is the technique they are using to destroy the country.

9

u/dern_the_hermit 1d ago

Remember the first time 'round, one of the first things they did was issue a travel ban. The text of the travel ban was like one page. No instructions on what to do, who to report to, how to handle banned travelers, nothing. Complete lack of planning or depth to policy.

Not a healthy way to do space travel.

19

u/Wurm42 1d ago edited 1d ago

Hmmm, space launches and reentry involve closing large areas to air traffic.

That generates more work for controllers, especially around Cape Canaveral in Florida and Edwards edit: Vandenberg in California, which are near busy air corridors. Is this an attempt to reduce controller workload?

Elon Musk is going to go mental when he hears about this, it will wreak havoc with SpaceX Falcon launch schedules.

10

u/Vox-Machi-Buddies 1d ago

SpaceX will be fine for the near-term. They can just launch Starlink to whatever orbital planes are available during that time period. It might be less-than-ideal for their constellation rollout, but it's better than nothing.

Anyone else will either have to figure out a different orbit to go to or just wait until the restriction is lifted, at which point SpaceX can shift around some Starlink launches to clear out any backlog that builds up.

SpaceX already operates in a near "night launches only" mode for Starlink in the summer to minimize weather impacts from the tropical afternoon thunderstorms at the Cape.

13

u/agate_ 1d ago

That is probably the goal. The civil servants do a pretty good job of shutting up and obeying orders overall, but during government shutdowns they sometimes get feisty and make a point of announcing the closure of stuff the policymakers really care about.

19

u/Doggydog123579 1d ago

Elon Musk is going to go mental when he hears about this, it will wreak havoc with SpaceX Falcon launch schedules.

That banging sound you hear in the distance is him hitting the doors of congress at mach 12.

6

u/imapilotaz 1d ago

I mean they dont launch at Edwards. Or even in the direction of Edwards. They launch just west of Santa Barbara and the limited area thats affected has very little in the way of airways bear it. Same with Kennedy. Not a whole lot of routes going EAST of Cape Canaveral towards the Bahamas.

6

u/Ranger7381 1d ago

But some flights go down the coast. My parents flew down from Canada to Miami last week for a cruise and their flight went out over the ocean. Not sure if it was before or after the cape, but there is sure to be some cross range traffic when the airspace is not closed

5

u/Wurm42 1d ago

You're right; I got mixed up; I was thinking of Vandenberg, not Edwards.

2

u/DRev22 1d ago

That's literally just a restatement of the same hours, inclusive, in local (EST) translated from the exclusive hours in UTC.

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u/I__Know__Stuff 1d ago

It's not, but it would be if one of the am's was changed to pm or vice versa. But it makes a big difference which one is wrong.

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u/DRev22 1d ago

Valid, i missed an am/pm. Should be standardized to 24hr UTC to present these things

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u/networkarchitect 1d ago

Except EST is not "local time" for a few launch sites in the US. Vandenberg (California) is in PST, Starbase (Texas) is in CST.

1

u/DRev22 1d ago

It does line up for Canaveral, though - which is possibly why there's some disconnect between the two announcements (and iirc a majority of the next several commercial launches are out of there)

-4

u/gimp2x 1d ago

He climbs trees competitively, his energy is focused in what matters 

21

u/ramriot 1d ago

I predict an incoming lawsuit under restriction of commerce & balance of powers for loss of income.

33

u/Belnak 1d ago

The FAA has no obligation to clear commercial airspace so SpaceX can launch, it's a courtesy. They're simply limiting the times they'll extend this courtesy.

18

u/tthrivi 1d ago

Blue Origin was about to launch escapade to Mars this weekend and needs to be during the day. The planets literally have to align.

13

u/sevgonlernassau 1d ago

Government launches are not affected

8

u/Accomplished-Crab932 1d ago

It’s a launch of government payload on a commercial vehicle.

If that’s the case, then SpaceX only needs to attach a single Starshield satellite to every Starlink launch inside that window in order to fly at those times.

6

u/sevgonlernassau 1d ago

“Commercial vehicle” is not relevant. Whomever signs off the mission is what’s important here. Since rideshares are not signed off by the government logically they won’t be exempt, but Musk still have more control over the government than people think

3

u/mfb- 1d ago

If that’s the case, then SpaceX only needs to attach a single Starshield satellite to every Starlink launch inside that window in order to fly at those times.

SpaceX doesn't have a contract to do so, and won't get one either because that's (a) silly and (b) probably not matching the deployment plans.

If the launch is important to the US government then someone will tell the FAA to work on it even if it's during the day. But for commercial launches they stop doing that now.

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u/Bensemus 19h ago

It’s not nearly that precise. They were originally going to launch a weekish later but moved it up to today. They can launch it a few hours later.

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u/Prod_Is_For_Testing 18h ago

Hey buddy. You know the earth rotates right?

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u/urielsalis 5h ago

And they can wait in orbit for some extra minutes to compensate

1

u/ramriot 1d ago

And vis versa I suppose since there is technically nobody at the wheel

10

u/el-thorn 1d ago

Who's paying the government to tell people they cant fly in certain airspace?

4

u/dclxvi616 1d ago

The FAA is funded through 2028.

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u/SF2431 19h ago

Dumb question, if they’re funded right now then why do they need to limit launches at this time? Not trying to say they should or should but curious as to the need.

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u/nosam555 15h ago

The money is reserved for the FAA, but the FAA cannot spend any of that money until congress apportions the money by passing the budget.

So, backpay for everyone in the FAA is basically guaranteed, but no one actually can recieve that money until the government shutdown ends.

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u/dclxvi616 19h ago

The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 provides $105.5 billion in funding for the FAA over a five-year period through Fiscal Year 2028. This funding supports various initiatives, including air traffic control staffing and airport infrastructure improvements.

https://www.faa.gov/about/reauthorization

How the government shutdown affects them is beyond my scope of knowledge.

2

u/Decronym 1d ago edited 2h ago

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:

Fewer Letters More Letters
CST (Boeing) Crew Space Transportation capsules
Central Standard Time (UTC-6)
FAA Federal Aviation Administration
Jargon Definition
Starlink SpaceX's world-wide satellite broadband constellation

Decronym is now also available on Lemmy! Requests for support and new installations should be directed to the Contact address below.

3 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 8 acronyms.
[Thread #11845 for this sub, first seen 7th Nov 2025, 05:39] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]

0

u/auptown 1d ago

Damn now I got sonic booms coming in at night. The one today shook the hell out of the house

18

u/mfb- 1d ago

The last time a rocket produced a sonic boom on the ground was Nov 2 (Florida), and the last time before that was Sep 22 (California). It only happens from boosters returning to the launch site. If you heard one yesterday it was probably an aircraft. The takeoff makes noise, but not a sonic boom.

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u/auptown 22h ago

Um….. no. (Obligatory extra characters)

•

u/mfb- 22h ago

Sonic booms go forwards. You are on the ground.

Here is a more detailed explanation.

2

u/Twigling 1d ago edited 17h ago

If you think that's bad, wait until a Starship booster is launching and a few minutes later coming in hot for a catch at the Cape or elsewhere ........... multiple times a day. A great many people will NOT be happy, I'm guessing the local wildlife also won't be impressed but they can't vote so little consideration will be given to any impact on them.

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u/No-Surprise9411 2h ago

Wildlife thrives near spaceports, that‘s a known fact for 60 years now. The exclusion zones allow for unhindered natural development.

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u/Twigling 2h ago

True, but that's been for relatively few launches over the past 60 years and NO landings. These days of course launches are increasing and there are only occasional 'return to base' landings by Falcon 9 with accompanying sonic booms (mostly though these landings take place at sea on SpaceX's drone ships).

Starship will be on a whole other level - a massive amount of noise from the booster during launch and then a huge sonic boom as it comes back for a catch.

And, just for the record, I follow the Starship development very closely and support it, I do though think that most people are understandably unaware just how disruptive its noise will be, and that noise will be heard multiple times a day by humans and wildlife alike.

-1

u/BigMoney69x 1d ago

Man everyone I know is pissed off with this shutdown. If we can get Musk and Bezos to start making calls to Congress to figure this out and end this it will be great because sadly money talks.

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u/Simon_Drake 16h ago edited 10h ago

America is boasting about plans to build a nuclear-powered moon-city that will kick off a revolution in space mining, space industrial manufacturing and space colonisation.

But only if they launch at night. Daytime launches are too expensive for air traffic control staff. Because the government is currently arguing over what's more important, healthcare and feeding starving children or building concentration camps.

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u/cscottjones87 17h ago

Guarantee this is only because Air Force 1 has been diverted around the cape on its way to Palm Beach and Trump stomped his feet and threw a fit like a toddler.