Space Force increases spaceport fees for summer launches

The Space Force will start charging launch companies more to use its spaceports as soon as the summer of 2024. This comes after a provision in the defense policy bill allows the service to pursue new revenue streams. The 1984 Commercial Space Act barred indirect fees, like facilities repair and maintenance, but the new legislation changes that. The Space Force can now collect additional fees from range users. The amount collected is limited to 30% of what a company is contracted to pay in direct costs, with a cap of $5 million per year. The new funding will help the service improve its range facilities and operate them more like commercial spaceports. The Space Force hopes to reduce the caps in the future. The change in how the Space Force collects range fees comes as launch rates surge at the service’s East and West Coast ranges. The service also requested $1.3 billion over the next five years for infrastructure projects aimed at increasing the number of launches it can support. Another provision to streamline the process for leasing federal land around military bases to commercial companies did not make it into the final bill, but there are plans to push for it to be included in FY25 defense policy legislation. Brig. Gen. Kristin Panzenhagen is the program executive officer for assured access to space and has been involved in meetings with industry to discuss the implications of the new fees. Courtney Albon is C4ISRNET’s space and emerging technology reporter who has focused on the Air Force and Space Force since 2012.