The U.S. FAA says it is now keeping more airspace open for commercial airline flights during launches from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, significantly cutting back on flight delays and aircraft being rerouted.

The agency says in a statement that it “determined the existing airspace restrictions for most Florida launches were too large and could be safely reduced.” 

The FAA says that more than 80% of space launches from KSC are to the east and south, but the agency had traditionally also closed airspace to the north during launches. “Within this northern section is the busy overwater route from the northeast to central Florida airports in Orlando, Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, among others,” the FAA says, noting this airspace “can now remain open during most launches.” The changes will benefit pilots and passengers of business and general aviation as well. 

The change was made in April, the FAA says, pointing out that 10 of 12 Florida space launches since have resulted in no airline flights being rerouted. Prior to the change, up to 36 flights were rerouted for a typical Florida space launch, leading to up to 1,500 extra miles of flying and impacting more than 4,000 passengers, the FAA reports.