A federal agency on Monday granted a license for a launchpad that would fly commercial rockets from coastal Georgia.

The Federal Aviation Administration's approval of a launch site operator license for Spaceport Camden marks a significant milestone for the Georgia space project, though many reviews and permits are needed before any rockets can actually launch.

A Camden County leader said Monday that the project propels Georgia into the space race that's seen civilians and celebrities flown into space in recent months.

"This once in a generation opportunity will provide a new frontier of economic prosperity for Camden, the region and the state of Georgia," Steve Howard, Camden County Administrator and Spaceport Camden executive project lead, said in a statement after the FAA's decision was announced.

"Georgia is part of the new space race, and we will become one of the leaders," Howard added.

Even with the license, the FAA says that more comprehensive reviews would be needed before any rockets can be launched.

In its 36-page decision released Monday, the FAA said it considered potential impacts to the climate and environment, public comments, and the agency's responsibility to encourage and promote commercial space launches by the private sector.

"Sea level rise and other climatological changes, such as increase in extreme weather events, may affect the spaceport in the coming years," the FAA wrote in its report.

Tiny human muscle cells will be blasted into space in an experiment that could help people live longer, healthier lives.

The experiment, called MicroAge, is set to be launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday.

Space will be used to understand what happens to human muscles as people age, and why.

Lab-grown human muscle cells, the size of a grain of rice, have been put into small 3D-printed holders the size of a pencil sharpener.

Once in space, they will be electrically stimulated to induce contractions in the muscle tissue, and the scientists will look closely to see what happens.

Spending time without the effects of gravity can cause astronauts' muscles to get weaker, just as they do in older age, before recovering when they return to Earth.

University of Liverpool researchers, funded by the UK Space Agency, will study what happens to muscle tissue in space, and compare the findings to what happens on Earth.

NASA plans to replace an engine controller aboard its massive SLS rocket after finding a communications glitch with the system's avionics during preflight testing, the latest setback in a program for which Boeing Co. is the main contractor and that has been plagued by years of delays and billions of dollars in costs beyond its initial budget.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration also said Friday it will explore launch dates for a test flight in March and April.

The rocket, which Congress authorized and began funding in 2010, was supposed to fly in late 2016. In October, NASA solicited ideas from the aerospace industry about ways to lower the costs associated with the Space Launch System.

Replacing the unit on one of the SLS's four RS-25 engines is "the best course of action," the agency said. The update comes after engineers preparing the rocket for flight detected a communications problem last month between the rocket's avionics system and the No. 4 engine, and began troubleshooting the issue.

NASA plans to use the Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew capsule to return astronauts to the moon later this decade.