# 117-hr-8288: LAUNCHES Act

117-hr-8288, LAUNCHES Act, is a 117th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Soto, Darren [D-FL-9] (D-FL); status Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. (as of 2025-11-18).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/117-hr-8288
- As of: 2025-11-18
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 117-hr-8288
- Congress: 117
- Title: LAUNCHES Act
- Status: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
- Introduced: 2022-07-05
- Sponsor: Rep. Soto, Darren [D-FL-9] (D-FL)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2025-11-18

## Summary

Leveraging American Understanding of Next-generation Challenges Exploring Space Act or the LAUNCHES Act This bill requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to facilitate access to specified broadband spectrum frequencies for commercial space launches and reentries. Under current law, commercial missions launching from the United States to space must use government-owned spectrum to communicate with the rockets during launch, and private companies must apply to the FCC to receive special temporary authority to use such spectrum. On June 28, 2021, the FCC issued a final rule adopting a nonfederal secondary allocation of the 2200-2290 megahertz frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum for use during commercial space launches and reentries. The bill requires the FCC to adopt service rules for access to additional frequencies for commercial space launches and reentries and complete associated rulemaking activities (e.g., those that set technical specifications and eligibility requirements) to implement the allocation of the frequencies. The FCC must also streamline the process for access authorizations, providing for (1) authorizations to access specified frequencies for multiple commercial space launches and reentries from one or more launch or reentry sites, (2) authorizations for multiple uses of such frequencies for a commercial space launch or reentry, (3) automation of the FCC's review process for access applications, and (4) increased coordination between the FCC and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to speed the review of such applications.

## Cosponsors (1)

- Rep. Dunn, Neal P. [R-FL-2] (R-FL), 2022-07-05T00:00:00.000Z

## Related bills

- 117-hr-1448: PAWS for Veterans Therapy Act
- 117-hr-3537: Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Act
- 117-hr-1193: Cardiovascular Advances in Research and Opportunities Legacy Act
- 117-hr-5142: To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal, in commemoration to the servicemembers who perished in Afghanistan on August 26, 2021, during the evacuation…
- 117-hr-310: To posthumously award the Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to Glen Doherty, Tyrone Woods, J. Christopher Stevens, and Sean Smith, in recognition of thei…
- 117-hr-1057: Greatest Generation Commemorative Coin Act

## Sources
- [117-hr-8288 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/8288)

## Related
- [117-hr-1448: PAWS for Veterans Therapy Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/117-hr-1448)
- [117-hr-3537: Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/117-hr-3537)
- [117-hr-1193: Cardiovascular Advances in Research and Opportunities Legacy Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/117-hr-1193)
- [117-hr-5142: To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal, in commemoration to the servi…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/117-hr-5142)
- [117-hr-310: To posthumously award the Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to Glen Doher…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/117-hr-310)
- [117-hr-1057: Greatest Generation Commemorative Coin Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/117-hr-1057)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/117-hr-8288 (as of 2025-11-18).