Florida plans duty-free launches
Zone gives incentives to commercial rockets
Florida Today
“A launch complex at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is being licensed by the state of Florida as part of a larger plan to develop a duty-free trade zone to the International Space Station.
Working hand in hand with the Air Force, the state would rebuild Launch Complex 36 and make it available to multiple small- and medium-size rockets capable of carrying commercial payloads into low Earth orbit.”
NASA is talking with military officials about whether they could build a commercial launch pad at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The talks come after NASA’s original idea - putting it in the middle of a world-renowned national wildlife refuge - was roundly panned by the public.
Cape now gets look for new NASA launch complex
Florida Today
NASA still considering using wildlife refuge for private ventures
Orlando Sentinel
Florida Today has a roundup of what the Florida Legislature has done during its current term to attract and keep aerospace companies. These measures include:
Ironically, the Legislature passed a budget that severely cuts funding for Space Florida, the organization that develops and promotes the state’s aerospace industry. Space Florida will receive $4 million this year, a reduction from its current $7 million budget. Gov. Charlie Crist had requested an increase to $8.5 million.
The cutback was apparently part of a general belt tightening effort in the midst of an economic downturn. A spokeswoman said Space Florida would cut back on trade shows and other promotional activities but does not anticipate any staff cutbacks.
Florida Today also reports that Space Florida is in negotiations with the U.S. Air Force over the use of Launch Complex 36, a deactivated Atlas rocket launch facility at the Cape Canaveral Air Station. The story does not indicate how the state would use the complex, but it could be related to efforts by Florida to lure Orbital Sciences Corporation to the state. The company is expected to make a decision soon on whether it will launch its new NASA-funded rocket from Virginia or Florida.
The Spaceports blog reports that Orbital Sciences Corporation is expected to make a decision this week on whether to fly its COTS rocket out of Virginia or Florida.
Both states have been heavily lobbying the Reston, Virginia-based company, which is developing commercial transportation to the International Space Station under the NASA program. The company will choose between the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island or Cape Canaveral in Florida.
The Daytona Beach News-Journal and Orlando Sentinel have have thrown their editorial weight behind citizens who are opposed to building a new commercial launch facility in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge at the Kennedy Space Center.
About 200 residents spoke out against the idea during a recent public hearing. The refuge site is one of several locations being considered. Residents suggested that the new facility be built on a nearby Air Force site that already hosts abandoned launch pads.
“Considering that some 1 million visitors a year trek into the refuge — birders, boaters, fishermen, hunters and hikers by the droves — one would think officials might have measured the potential economic blow to tourism and related loss of jobs from closing parts of the refuge against the 200 jobs and economic prospects of commercial space flight. NASA hasn’t. Interior Department and state officials should,” the Dayton editors wrote.
The Orlando Sentinel editors were a bit more blunt: “What part of the word ‘refuge’ doesn’t NASA understand?”
Meanwhile, Sentinel columnist Mike Thomas credits NASA for holding public hearings and doubts agency officials will build anything in the wildlife refuge. “If anything, it seems as if they are sabotaging the idea,” he wrote.
An eclectic group of residents composed of birders, boaters, nudists and former NASA employees pleaded with the space agency not to build private launchpads near a world-renowned wildlife refuge, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
“That you would even consider it boggles my mind,” Wes Biggs of Orlando told NASA representatives during a public hearing. “The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge isn’t just another refuge. It’s one of the jewels of the federal wildlife system, and it is known worldwide.”
NASA wants commercial companies to build new launch facilities at Kennedy Space Center. It is considering several possible locations. Residents urged agency officials to make use of an abandoned Air Force range for the project. However, agency officials said it would be difficult to obtain the land from the military.
Florida Today also has a story about the public hearing.