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’s two U.S. senators have urged NASA not to build a new commercial launch site in popular wildlife areas but to use existing launch locations instead, the Dayton News-Journal reports.
“There is great promise in the pursuit of a viable U.S. commercial space industry, and this can be achieved while respecting the existing and precious habitat of the Space Coast,” Mel Martinez wrote in a letter to NASA. His colleague, Bill Nelson, wrote a similar letter to the space agency this week.
The space agency is studying whether to build a new launch complex on one of two sites on north end of the Kennedy Space Center. The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Canaveral National Seashore co-manage the areas.
The proposal has generated strong opposition from birdwatchers, fishermen and other locals who use the popular recreation areas. They fear the sites could be damaged by the rocket facility and closed to users.
One solution would be to situate the new launch complex at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, where there are a number of abandoned launch facilities. Nelson’s letter indicates that Air Force Brig. Gen. Susan Helms, who oversees the station, is willing to work with NASA on finding a location for the facility.
The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that up to 6,400 contractors could lose their jobs at the Kennedy Space Center after the space shuttle is retired in 2010.
In a report due out on Tuesday, the space agency estimates that the contractor staff could fall from about 8,000 today to between 1,600 and 2,300 in 2011. Employment would begin to pick up in subsequent years as NASA prepares to launch its new Ares/Orion system. Far fewer employees will be needed to launch the new system.
NASA will be using space shuttle ceramic tiles on its new Orion spacecraft in order to save weight, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
The newspaper reports that NASA originally wanted to use a “Frisbee-shaped disc of a material called PICA as Orion’s main heat shield.” However, serious thrust issues with the Ares I rocket have required engineers to go with the lightweight tiles to reduce the capsule’s weight. Officials say the tiles are safe and their use on Orion is not likely to lead to a Columbia-type accident.
“The tiles were available,” said Cleon Lacefield, who is Orion program manager for Lockheed Martin. “They gave us the heat protection we needed, and the newer generation is very tough. They increased the damage tolerance over other alternatives we were looking at.”
The continued use of the tiles will save a handful of the hundreds of tile technician jobs that now exist to service the much larger space shuttle, which is scheduled for retirement in 2010. As few of 10 tile technicians will remain. Overall, the end of the shuttle program will likely take about 5,000 jobs with it.
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.
Florida Today questions the feasibility of a commercial spaceport at Kennedy Space Center in the wake of public hearings where residents spoke against its possible location in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. The newspaper wonders whether the project is financially feasible and whether it would have a detrimental impact on tourism and the environment. “[Residents] also offered a good suggestion: Consider building the complex at abandoned launch sites at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station,” the paper writes.
Kennedy Space Center’s proposed commercial launch facility has generated some concern among one group - local fishermen, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
The fishermen are worried that a new launch complex would permanently close Mosquito Lagoon south from Haulover Canal. The fishing spot is known sas the Redfish Capital of the World.
NASA officials say they are considering two sites, one of which is near Mosquito Lagoon. They will be holding a series of public hearings to obtain input from the public.
NASA’s decision to award $170 million in COTS funding to Orbital Sciences Corporation could prove to be a big boost to Virginia’s efforts to establish a commercial spaceport on Wallops Island.
The Dulles, Virginia-based company is leaning toward working with NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility and the state’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport to demonstrate its new Taurus II rocket by 2010. If the program is successful, it could make Virginia’s Eastern Shore a major commercial space center.
“This is a real opportunity to see that happen. It’s significant,” said Billie Reed, executive director of the Virginia Commercial Spaceflight Authority.
The Virginian-Pilot has more on the Virginia angle. Meanwhile, the Orlando Sentinel reports that although Orbital Sciences is leaning toward launching out of its home state, it has not closed the door on flights from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. KSC officials recently announced they were open to allowing private companies to build launch sites at the facility.
NASA is considering whether to set aside about 200 acres of land at Kennedy Space Center land for private companies to construct their own launch pads.
“We at NASA are in the launch business here at Kennedy, so it makes sense,” said NASA Public Affairs spokesman Allard Beutel.
Read the full story at Central Florida News 13.
Florida Today has also weighed in on the effort. In an editorial, the newspaper called it “an imaginative idea that deserves serious consideration” and “a promising sign that NASA is willing to think outside the box.” However, the editors also called the proposal a “long shot,” doubting whether the State of Florida and/or a private company would be willing to pay the $504 million to $590 million for construction.