The Federal Aviation Administration will start billing commercial launch and reentry operators for their missions later this year. The agency announced the change in a notice published in the Federal Register on April 22. It is the first time the FAA has charged per-mission user fees in its history.

The fee is calculated on the weight of the payload. For 2026, operators will owe 25 cents for each pound of payload, capped at $30,000 per mission. The schedule escalates each year, reaching $1.50 per pound and a $200,000 cap by 2033. Increases after that will track the Consumer Price Index.

Congress directed the program last summer as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The law amended Title 51 of the U.S. Code to require the FAA to begin collecting fees in 2026. Operators are liable for any launch or reentry conducted since January 1 of this year. The agency expects to issue the first round of fee notifications sometime later in 2026.

Collection works off existing reporting rules. Operators already file payload weights with the FAA at least 60 days before each mission. The agency will use those figures to bill operators, who then have 30 days to pay.

Fees To Offset Costs

Money collected goes into a new Treasury account that supports the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation, known as AST. The office licenses every U.S. commercial launch and reentry. AST received $39.6 million in fiscal year 2026 and has requested a 43.3 percent increase for 2027 to keep pace with a 52.7 percent surge in launch demand since 2023.

For SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, and Blue Origin, the immediate effect is modest. A typical Falcon 9 Starlink mission would owe a fee in the low thousands of dollars under the 2026 schedule. The longer-term picture is less certain. By the early 2030s, with the cap near $200,000 and heavy-lift vehicles such as Starship and New Glenn flying more often, the fees could become a meaningful line item for high-cadence operators.

The Federal Register notice, FR Doc. 2026-07789, took effect on publication and does not include a public comment period.