Watchdog: FAA Staffing Struggles Could Hinder Human Spaceflight

GAO audit reveals ongoing hiring challenges that could slow progress on licensing and oversight.

Thursday, February 22, 2024 at 09:46 PM ET

Verified

Staffing problems within the FAA's commercial space office risk slowing down industry development, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. [Photo: The Bold Bureau/Shutterstock]

Key Takeaways:

A U.S. GAO audit found that the FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) faces significant hiring challenges, struggling to fill specialized positions needed to oversee the burgeoning human spaceflight industry.
These staffing shortages and the lengthy two-year training period for new personnel could lead to AST "queuing" license applications, potentially delaying commercial space operations and hindering industry growth.
The audit also highlighted that AST has not fully implemented key 2018 GAO recommendations for strategic workforce management, such as conducting skill gap assessments or developing workload metrics.

See a mistake? Contact us.

An 18-month audit conducted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that hiring challenges at the FAA could hinder the growth of the human spaceflight industry.

The audit report, published Wednesday in response to a request from federal lawmakers, reviewed hiring policies within the agency’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) between August 2022 and February 2024.