FCC announces 'Space Month' push to streamline space regulations

We're about a quarter of the way through "Space Month."

That's the nickname that Brendan Carr, chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), has given to October 2025. The branding is part of the agency's push to streamline space regulations, which Carr said is a big priority going forward.

"We are declaring October 2025 'Space Month' at the FCC," Carr said in an emailed statement on Monday (Oct. 6). "Big picture — our goal is to make sure that the U.S. is the friendliest regulatory environment in the world for innovators to start, to grow and to accelerate their space operations."

The FCC has authority over space communications, issuing licenses and allocating specific segments of the radio band to satellite operators. The agency forms a sort of regulatory tag-team with the Federal Aviation Administration, which licenses rocket launches and spacecraft reentries. (Both agencies also deal with the issue of space debris)

The "Space Month" agenda calls for "modernizing" the FCC's licensing process, according to the emailed statement.

The agency "will do so by doing away with bespoke licensing processes in favor of a 'licensing assembly line,'" the statement reads. "This will include expediting licensing requests presumed to be in the public interest, as well as simplifying applications, establishing clear timelines and increasing flexibility for licensed operations."

The FCC also aims to encourage "more intensive use" of a portion of the radio spectrum known as the upper microwave flexible use bands, according to the statement.

The FCC will vote on these proposed actions later this month, according to the statement.

"At the FCC, we have been doing our part through a Build America Agenda that aims to boost our country's space economy," Carr said. "Now, the FCC is going to add rocket fuel to those efforts."