Federal Aviation Administration 

Office of Commercial Space Transportation 

PART 450 APPLICATION LETTER TEMPLATE 

Purpose 

This document provides an application letter template that an applicant may use as a cover letter 

to formally submit a license application1 to the FAA. Use of this template (Attachment 1) is not 

mandatory2, but the FAA encourages applicants to use it as a formal application cover letter for a 

vehicle operator license and as the means to transmit the package of required documents. 

Application Submission 

Prior to submitting an application for a vehicle operator license, prospective applicants must 

comply with pre-application consultation requirements stated in 14 C.F.R. § 413.5, and with any 

other relevant pre-application requirements (e.g., pre-application requirements for incremental 

review per § 450.33, or a safety element approval per part 414). 

The components of a vehicle operator license application are listed in § 450.31 (General) and 

include a policy review, a payload determination, a safety review that complies with Subpart C, a 

review of environmental requirements, and information necessary to satisfy the maximum 

probable loss analysis required by part 440 (Financial Responsibility). When an applicant is 

ready to submit a formal application, it must submit it in accordance with § 413.7, as follows. 

1 Per § 413.1(a) (Scope of this Part), the term “application” means either an application in its entirety or a portion of 

an application for incremental review. 

2 The material in this document is advisory in nature and does not constitute a regulation. This guidance is not 

legally binding in its own right, and will not be relied upon by the FAA as a separate basis for affirmative 

enforcement action or other administrative penalty. Conformity with this guidance document (as distinct from 

existing statutes and regulations) is voluntary only, and nonconformity will not affect rights and obligations under 

existing statutes and regulations. Draft document pending clearance pursuant to 49 CFR part 5. 

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§ 413.7 Application. 

(a) An applicant must make an application in writing and in English. The applicant must file 

the application with the Federal Aviation Administration either by paper, by use of physical 

electronic storage, or by email in the following manner: 

(1) For applications submitted on paper, an applicant must send two copies of the 

application to the Federal Aviation Administration, Associate Administrator for Commercial 

Space Transportation, Room 331, 800 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20591. 

Attention: Application Review. 

(2) For an application submitted by use of physical electronic storage, the applicant must 

either mail the application to the address specified in paragraph (a)(1) of this section or handdeliver the application to an authorized FAA representative. The application and the physical 

electronic storage containing the application must also satisfy all of the following criteria: 

(i) The application must include a cover letter that is printed on paper and signed by the 

person who signed the application or by an authorized representative of the applicant; 

(ii) The cover letter must identify each document that is included on the physical electronic 

storage; and 

(iii) The physical electronic storage must be in a format such that its contents cannot be 

altered. 

(3) For an application submitted by email, an applicant must send the application as an 

email attachment, or as a link to a secure server, to ASTApplications@faa.gov. The application 

and the email to which the application is attached or linked must also satisfy the following 

criteria: 

(i) The email to which the application is attached or linked must be sent from an email address 

controlled by the person who signed the application or by an authorized representative of the 

applicant; 

(ii) The email must identify each document that is included as an attachment or that is stored on a 

secure server; and 

(iii) The electronic files must be date-stamped and have version control documentation. 

(b) Administrative information. An application must identify the following: 

(1) The name and address of the applicant; 

(2) The name, address, and telephone number of any person to whom inquiries and 

correspondence should be directed; and 

(3) The type of license or permit for which the applicant is applying. 

(c) Signature and certification of accuracy. An application must be legibly signed, dated, 

and certified as true, complete, and accurate by one of the following: 

(1) For a corporation: An officer or other individual authorized to act for the corporation in 

licensing or permitting matters. 

(2) For a partnership or a sole proprietorship: A general partner or proprietor, respectively. 

(3) For a joint venture, association, or other entity: An officer or other individual authorized 

to act for the joint venture, association, or other entity in licensing or permitting matters. 

(d) Safety approval. If the applicant proposes to include a safety element for which the FAA 

issued a safety approval under part 414 in the proposed license activity, the applicant must— 

(1) Identify the safety approval in the application and explain the proposed use of the 

approved safety element. 

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(2) Show that the proposed use of the approved safety element is consistent with the 

designated scope specified in the safety approval. 

(3) Certify that the safety element will be used according to any terms and conditions of the 

issued safety approval. 

(e) Measurement system consistency. For each analysis, an applicant must employ a 

consistent measurements system, whether English or metric, in its application and licensing 

information. 

The application cover letter template provided in Attachment 1 is based primarily on an 

application letter for a vehicle operator license under part 450, but it can be revised to 

accommodate an application for other types of authorizations. During pre-application 

consultation, or during the application review process, an applicant for a license may enter into 

agreements with the FAA regarding a number of flexibilities allowed by the regulations, which 

include the option of proposing alternative time frames that better suit its operations. 

Eligible time frames include pre-flight and post-flight reporting among others listed in Appendix 

A to Part 404—Alternative Time Frames. If an operator knows in advance of application 

submittal that it will propose an alternative time frame, the applicant should raise this proposal 

during pre-application consultation. 

In summary, the application letter template serves as a type of checklist that identifies and lists 

compliance documents and FAA-approved items associated with alternative time frames, 

accepted means of compliance, incremental reviews, and safety element approvals, which will 

help an applicant to submit an acceptable application to the FAA in accordance with § 413.11. 

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Attachment 1 – Application Letter Template 

<Company letterhead with name and address> 

<DATE> 

Federal Aviation Administration 

Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation 

800 Independence Avenue SW., Room 331 

Washington, DC 20591 

SUBJECT: Application for a Vehicle Operator License Under 14 CFR part 450 

This cover letter submitted on behalf of <COMPANY NAME>, provides the CERTIFICATION 

OF ACCURACY in accordance with 14 CFR part 413.7(c) for the subject application and 

supporting compliance documents. 

Applicant Name and Contact Information: 

<COMPANY NAME> 

<COMPANY ADDRESS> 

Point of Contact: <NAME OF PERSON TO WHOM INQUIRIES AND CORRESPONDENCE 

SHOULD BE DIRECTED> 

Telephone Number: <PHONE NUMBER OF POINT OF CONTACT> 

Email: <EMAIL ADDRESS OF POINT OF CONTACT> 

License Type 

With this application, <COMPANY NAME> hereby applies for a vehicle operator license for 

<LAUNCH or REENTRY> as follows: 

Time Frame: <APPROXIMATE TIME FRAME OF FIRST LAUNCH/REENTRY & 

SUBSEQUENT MISSIONS> 

Vehicle(s): <IDENTIFY VEHICLE OR VEHICLE CONFIGURATIONS/FAMILY OF 

VEHICLES> 

Payload(s): <IDENTIFY PAYLOAD(S) OR CLASS OF PAYLOADS, IF ANY> 

Launch Site(s) and/or Reentry Site(s): <PROVIDE DETAILS AS APPLICABLE> 

Human Space Flight: <IDENTIFY ANY CREW OR SPACE FLIGHT PARTICIPANTS> 

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Compliance documents 

Enclosed with this application are the following compliance-related documents: 

• Compliance document list (comprehensive list of application documents organized for 

traceability to each regulatory requirement). 

• Application compliance checklist (identifies each individual regulation and points to 

<COMPANY NAME’s> specific compliance document that demonstrates compliance with 

the requirement; equivalent level of safety and waiver requests are also identified <if 

applicable>. 

Per § 450.35, <COMPANY NAME> confirms that a means of compliance (MOC) was accepted 

by the FAA <REFERENCE CORRESPONDENCE WITH DATE> for the following five 

sections: 

• § 450.115(b)(1) Flight Safety Analyses 

• § 450.139(e)(1) Toxic Hazards for Flight 

• § 450.145(b) Highly-Reliable Flight Safety System 

• § 450.163(a)(1) Lightning Hazard Mitigation 

• § 450.187(e)(1) Toxic Hazards Mitigation for Ground Operations 

Alternative Time Frames <if applicable> 

<COMPANY NAME>, in accordance with Appendix A to Part 404—Alternative Time Frames 

proposes the following alternative time frames for the following regulations: 

< Summarize proposed alternative time frames for each corresponding eligible regulation (e.g., 

§ 440.15—Demonstration of compliance, § 450.169— Launch and Reentry Collision Avoidance 

Analysis Requirements, § 450.213—Pre-flight reporting, and § 450.215—Post-flight reporting) and 

identify if the FAA already approved the alternative time frames during pre-application 

consultation. > 

Incremental Review <if applicable> 

<COMPANY NAME> applies for a safety approval in an incremental manner pursuant to 

§§ 450.31(c) and 450.33. 

< Summarize incremental review requested and confirm that incremental approach was 

previously approved by the FAA in accordance with 14 CFR § 450.33(b). Include a schedule of 

events if warranted to demonstrate that a safety review module or section will be submitted to the 

FAA in a workable chronological order and reviewed independently within an agreed time 

frame.> 

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Safety Element Approval <if applicable> 

<COMPANY NAME>, in accordance with 14 CFR § 413.7(d), proposes to include a safety 

element for which the FAA issued a safety element approval under part 414 for the proposed 

license activity or 

<COMPANY NAME>, in accordance with 14 CFR §§ 414.11(b) and 414.15 seeks to obtain a 

safety element approval concurrent with a vehicle operator license application. 

<Summarize safety element approval COMPANY has received or for which COMPANY is 

applying.> 

Certificate of Accuracy per § 413.7(c) 

I, <AUTHORIZED PERSON>, as an individual authorized to act for <COMPANY 

NAME> in licensing matters, certify that the referenced application documents are true, 

complete, and accurate. 

Confidentiality Request 

Per § 413.9, <COMPANY NAME> requests <DESCRIBE INFORMATION OR DATA FOR 

WHICH CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT IS DESIRED AND FOR WHAT PERIOD OF 

TIME> 

Sincerely, 

<SIGNATURE OF AUTHORIZED PERSON> 

<TITLE OF AUTHORIZED PERSON> 

Enclosures: 

<Application compliance checklist> 

<Compliance document list & actual application documents> 

CC: 

< ASA-1> 

<ASA-100> 

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