Am I allowed to leave Earth if I had an actual working spacecraft?

Washington, D.C. – Dreaming about going to space is one thing — actually doing it is a whole different story. For a private citizen with access to a real spacecraft, it’s not as simple as just firing up the engines and blasting off. There’s a lot of red tape involved, and legally, you can’t leave Earth without getting permission from the U.S. government.

That’s because of something called the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, a key international agreement that the U.S. (and many other countries) signed. Under this treaty, if a private individual or company wants to go to space, their home country has to approve and supervise the mission. So if you’re a U.S. citizen, your spaceflight is America’s responsibility on the global stage.

Back home, it’s the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation that handles all of this. Whether you’re launching from the U.S. or anywhere else in the world, you’ll need a launch license from them if you’re an American.

Getting that license isn’t easy. The FAA wants to make sure your mission is safe and aligned with U.S. interests. Here’s what they look at:

• Policy: Is your mission consistent with U.S. space and foreign policy?

• Safety: Is your rocket design safe for people on the ground and in space?

• Payload: What are you sending up there, and is it allowed?

• Financials: Do you have the money (or insurance) to cover any damages? We’re talking potentially hundreds of millions of dollars.

• Environment: Will your launch hurt the environment?

And if people are on board? Even more rules kick in. While the FAA currently can’t enforce certain passenger safety regulations (thanks to a congressional pause), the flight crew still needs to be trained, and anyone flying has to give informed consent.

All these rules are spelled out in Title 14, Chapter III of the Code of Federal Regulations — basically the U.S. government’s spaceflight rulebook.

So, building your own spacecraft? Impressive. But it’s just the beginning. You can’t just launch from your backyard anymore — if that was ever really possible. These days, reaching space means going through a long, careful process that’s meant to keep people safe and make sure we explore space responsibly.