Safety and Launch Corridor
Demonstrate usable mission corridors, debris containment, overflight exclusion, maritime coordination, emergency access, and acceptable risks to Puerto Rico and neighboring islands.
Public Policy Contribution | FAA Docket FAA-2026-9736
Puerto Rico Spaceport and Critical Launch Corridors
An evidence-gated strategy for evaluating Puerto Rico as a phased U.S. space transportation complex centered on Roosevelt Roads and Ceiba.
Core Recommendation
The Department of Transportation should advance Puerto Rico into a comparative, federally coordinated feasibility and launch-corridor study centered on Roosevelt Roads and Ceiba. The federal government should treat Puerto Rico as a phased space transportation complex, not assume that one proposed parcel already qualifies for a vertical launch pad. Construction support should follow only after the project proves safe launch geometry, credible operator demand, environmental and remediation readiness, resilient utilities, community acceptance, and a sustainable operating model.
Five Required Decision Gates
The comment recommends mandatory evidence gates before major public investment. Economic-development benefits should never compensate for unacceptable safety or environmental results.
Credible Operator Demand
Require an anchor operator, defined vehicle classes, realistic mission cadence, payload requirements, and independent demand validation before major construction.
Environment and Land
Resolve remediation, land-use, wetlands, species, noise, plume, cumulative-impact, and community-participation requirements before selecting a launch-pad location.
Infrastructure and Resilience
Validate power, water, wastewater, communications, storm-surge, hurricane, seismic, emergency-response, and continuity requirements through engineering studies.
Finance and Operations
Release public funds by measurable milestones and require lifecycle cost, committed private capital, operating revenue, insurance, maintenance, and decommissioning plans.
A Phased Puerto Rico Operating Concept
The submission recommends a distributed space transportation complex instead of forcing every activity onto one parcel.
Ceiba Airport and Industrial Node
- Horizontal flight, landing, testing, cargo, and emergency support
- Payload processing, clean assembly, maintenance, and training
- Range-control, data, tenant, and component-integration facilities
- Connections to Puerto Rico's universities, workforce, ports, and suppliers
Vertical Launch Node
- Compare remediated land-based and offshore alternatives
- Use vehicle-specific trajectory and hazard analysis
- Delay specialized pad construction until an operator freezes its interfaces
- Preserve the broader Puerto Rico concept if one parcel fails the required gates
Critical Space Launch Corridors
Operational Definition
A critical corridor should function as a preplanned, performance-qualified airspace-management service for a specific family of trajectories and contingencies. It should not create permanently closed airspace or guarantee a launch slot.
Required Capabilities
FAA should use prevalidated geometry, common data standards, defined decision authority, near-real-time telemetry, dynamic hazard-area release, published service levels, and measurable effects on aviation and maritime users.
Why This Contribution Matters
Puerto Rico offers a geographically distinct, lower-latitude U.S. location with airport, port, industrial, academic, and workforce potential. The comment also identifies the evidence that decision makers must obtain before they commit public funding or select a launch-pad location.
Suggested citation: Figueroa, R. (2026, August 25). Response to the Request for Information: Siting New Spaceports and Use of Priority Airspace for Critical Space Launch Corridors . Public comment, FAA Docket No. FAA-2026-9736, Comment ID FAA-2026-9736-0003.
This page summarizes an independently submitted public comment. Appearance in the federal docket does not indicate endorsement by the Federal Aviation Administration or the U.S. Department of Transportation. The official Regulations.gov record controls if any difference exists between this summary and the filed attachment.