The SpaceX officials said they want to be clear that the FAA is doing a reasonably good job with the resources it has, and that everyone supports the mission of safe spaceflight.
However, they said, the FAA needs significantly more people working in its licensing department and should be encouraged to prioritize missions of national importance.
Inefficient regulation, the officials said, is decreasing American competitiveness as space programs in China and elsewhere around the world rise.
“Maybe the committee can give them the big picture goals of what they want to accomplish for the US, and then maybe the FAA can be a little more innovative in how they interpret some of the rules and regulations," a SpaceX official said.
During the hearing on Wednesday, Gerstenmaier will recommend that the FAA double the staff in the licensing division of its Office of Commercial Space Transportation, which is known as AST.
The company also believes that license applicants should be able to opt-in to help fund independent third-party technical support to assist the FAA surge in the near term while the agency goes through the hiring process.
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