Tag: Shuttle Landing Facility

NASA Still Reviewing Options on Shuttle Landing Facility

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The Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida. (Credit: NASA)
The Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida. (Credit: NASA)

By Douglas Messier
Parabolic Arc Managing Editor

NASA is still reviewing options on what to do with the Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF), which has been largely idle since the last space shuttle touched down 18 months ago.

“Regarding your request for the Shuttle Landing Facility, NASA is currently assessing responses to the recently published Request for Information (RFI) seeking to identify entities that may be interested in maintaining and operating this National Asset,” NASA Associate Administrator L. Seth Statler wrote in a Nov. 30 letter to Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll. “A decision regarding the disposition of this asset will follow the completion of the RFI response assessment and review of the Space Florida proposal.”

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Stratolaunch Eyes Operations From Kennedy Space Center

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Stratolaunch vehicle. (Credit: Stratolaunch)
Stratolaunch vehicle. (Credit: Stratolaunch)

Paul Allen’s Stratolaunch Systems is eying the Kennedy Space Center as its base of operations, beginning with a demonstration flight of the air-launch system from the former Shuttle Landing Facility in 2017, CEO Gary Wentz tells Florida Today:

Stratolaunch, which was publicly introduced in December 2011, hopes to provide lower-cost launches by freeing itself from ground-based range infrastructure and weather restrictions and enabling quicker flight turnarounds.

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Closer Look: XCOR’s Florida Deal Worth More than $5.7 Million

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XCOR’s Lynx suborbital vehicle

By Douglas Messier
Parabolic Arc Managing Editor

Various Florida agencies put up more than $5.7 million in “incentive value and financing” to help lure XCOR to set up a production facility and operational base for its Lynx space plane in the Sunshine State, according to the head of the state’s space development organization.

The funding and incentives are being put up by Space Florida, Brevard Workforce, Enterprise Florida Inc., and the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast, according to a presentation by Space Florida President Frank DiBello during the announcement of the deal last month.

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Local Airport Authority Wants to Run KSC’s Shuttle Landing Facility

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The Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida. (Credit: NASA)

Florida Today reports that a local airport authority is seeking to run the Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility:

The owner of three local general-aviation airports now wants to take over operations of Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility as part of a two-pronged approach to attract more space-related companies to the area.

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NASA Looks to Establish Public-Private Partnership for KSC’s Shuttle Landing Facility

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The Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida. (Credit: NASA)

NASA has issued a request for information (RFI) for industry input on how it can transform the space shuttle landing facility at the Kennedy Space Center into a multi-use facility to support aircraft and spacecraft launches and landings.The goal is to establish a public-private partnership to operate the facility.

An excerpt from the RFI is below; you can find the full document here.

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