NOAA OK to SpaceX Launches Raises Questions, Space Lawyer Blogs

The FAA doesn't regulate the noise of space launch vehicles, but NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service apparently does, space lawyer Laura Montgomery blogged Monday. She said the incidental harassment authorization that SpaceX received for its sonic booms raises questions about why NOAA has such authority and whether the Marine Fisheries Service falls under the Commercial Space Launch Act exceptions for approvals that space launch operations need.