Each time a rocket launch occurs, air traffic controllers ensure the safety of commercial aircraft by managing airspace closures and monitoring for rocket debris; We do not receive compensation from companies. The Biden administration's budget proposal aims to change that by proposing that commercial space companies begin paying for the use of government air traffic control resources. The New York Times reports: Private space companies are exempt from the aviation excise tax that feeds the coffers of the Airports and Airways Trust Fund, which pays for the FAA's operations, bringing in about $18 billion in tax revenue this fiscal year. This tax is primarily paid by commercial airlines and is 7.5% of each ticket price plus an additional fee of approximately $5 to $20 per passenger, depending on the destination of each flight. Biden's budget proposal promises to work with Congress to overhaul the tax system and share the costs of operating the nation's air traffic control system. His pledge was based in part on an independent safety review report commissioned by the FAA that recommended updating the federal government's excise tax on private space companies.
Biden's call to overhaul the decades-old excise tax structure is part of his effort to make wealthy Americans and wealthy companies pay their “fair share.” In his State of the Union address last month, Biden also called for higher taxes on individual and corporate jet users, including raising the tax on jet fuel from 21.8 cents a gallon to $1.06 a gallon over five years. It is. The fuel tax currently accounts for about 3% of the trust fund's annual revenue and is highly dependent on what commercial airlines and their passengers pay. But commercial space companies don't contribute to that fund, and they don't cover the costs the public incurs when launching a rocket, said former FAA-authorized aircraft dispatcher and senior fellow at the American Economic Liberties Project. said one William J. McGee. Consumer advocacy group. “This is a fundamental equity issue,” McGee said. “It would be the same as having a toll system on a highway and waving to certain users and not waving to others.”