 Space Florida logo | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 2006 |
| Type | Space agency |
| Official language | English |
| Primary spaceport |
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| Website | http://www.spaceflorida.gov/ |
Space Florida is the aerospace economic development agency of the State of Florida. Founded in 2006, it works with commercial space companies, other governmental agencies, and academic institutions to develop space-related infrastructure. [1]
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The agency was created by consolidating three existing state space entities into a single new organization via the Space Florida Act, [2] enacted in May 2006 by the Florida Legislature. The predecessor entities were the Florida Space Authority, the Florida Space Research Institute and the Florida Aerospace Finance Corporation. [3] In 2008, Aviation Week magazine reported that the U.S. Air Force committed to lease Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 36 to Space Florida for future use by the Athena III launch system, [4] but that program had not moved forward as late as 2013. [5]
In 2010, Space Florida became a "Preferred Partner" of the Google Lunar X PRIZE (GXLP), and, as such, had offered an additional US$2 million bonus to teams that might have launched their Google Lunar X PRIZE-winning missions from the state of Florida. [6] In the event, the GXLP expired in 2018 before any team had even launched a rover mission to attempt to claim the prize.
The Florida Space Authority was created as a Florida state government space agency by Florida's Governor and legislature in 1989. The Authority's mission (as authorized in Chapter 331, Part Two, Florida Statutes) was to retain, expand and diversify the state's space-related industry. Chapter 331 gives FSA governmental powers similar to those of other types of transportation authorities (airport, seaport, etc.) to support and regulate the state's space transportation industry. It was empowered to own, operate, construct, finance, acquire, extend, equip and improve spaceport infrastructure. The Florida Space Authority served the state's Governor through the governor's Office of Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development. Development of the space industry. Chapter 331 of the Florida Statutes specifically states that the FSA is not to be considered an "agency," even though it receives funding directly from the state of Florida, according to its website. [7]
With the Space Florida Act, enacted in May 2006, the Florida Legislature consolidated FSA, the Florida Space Research Institute, and the Florida Aerospace Finance Corporation to create Space Florida. [8]
In 2012, Space Florida partnered with NanoRacks to host the Space Florida International Space Station (ISS) Research Competition. [9] Participants competed to fly scientific research payloads in NanoLabs to the International Space Station. The experiments were then conducted on board the U.S. National Lab. Space Florida covered the costs of research payload transportation to the ISS for the eight winning applicants. The Space Florida ISS Research Competition is designed to inspire innovation and enable unique research opportunities and access for customers to the ISS.
In the early 2010s, Space Florida proposed a commercial spaceport at Shiloh, in northern Brevard County, but those plans never came to fruition.
Located immediately north of the U.S. Government's Kennedy Space Center, the open access to the U.S. Air Force's Eastern Range over the open Atlantic Ocean to the east, and easy access to the range's tracking facilities made the location attractive on many margins. Among other potential users of the spaceport facility, SpaceX was reported to be considering Shiloh as one of several potential locations for building a commercial launch facility. Opponents of the proposed Shiloh launch location cite the potential for a negative impact on the natural environment because this area is home to several species listed as endangered or threatened. [10] Even though the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has yet to agree to turn over the land to the State of Florida for commercial development, NASA has agreed to let the Federal Aviation Administration lead an environmental impact study at the proposed site. SpaceX ended up selecting Brownsville, Texas to build its private spaceport.
On May 2, 2013, the Volusia County Council voted 6-1 in favor of a commercial launch site at Shiloh. Though largely symbolic in nature, the vote was considered by many to be a critical step toward any future development of the proposed Shiloh location. [11]
In July 2014, after difficulties gaining support from environmental groups and others, Space Florida began looking for alternatives to the Shiloh location that would facilitate commercial space launch pads on the Florida Space Coast. These include working with the U.S. Air Force to see about converting some of the very large amount of unused military launch pads at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (south of Shiloh) to state land that might be used as a commercial spaceport. [12]
The efforts in late 2014 to find an alternative ultimately came to fruition in 2015 to open a Space Florida spaceport at a different location, with the September 2015 announcement that Blue Origin would manufacture their new orbital launch vehicle at Exploration Park, and launch the rocket from Launch Complex 36. [13] [14]
Space Florida has partnered with NASA on the following facilities:
Space tourism is human space travel for recreational purposes. There are several different types of space tourism, including orbital, suborbital and lunar space tourism.
A spaceport or cosmodrome is a site for launching or receiving spacecraft, by analogy to a seaport for ships or an airport for aircraft. The word spaceport, and even more so cosmodrome, has traditionally been used for sites capable of launching spacecraft into orbit around Earth or on interplanetary trajectories. However, rocket launch sites for purely sub-orbital flights are sometimes called spaceports, as in recent years new and proposed sites for suborbital human flights have been frequently referred to or named "spaceports". Space stations and proposed future bases on the Moon are sometimes called spaceports, in particular if intended as a base for further journeys.
Human spaceflight programs have been conducted, started, or planned by multiple countries and companies. Until the 21st century, human spaceflight programs were sponsored exclusively by governments, through either the military or civilian space agencies. With the launch of the privately funded SpaceShipOne in 2004, a new category of human spaceflight programs – commercial human spaceflight – arrived. By the end of 2022, three countries and one private company (SpaceX) had successfully launched humans to Earth orbit, and two private companies had launched humans on a suborbital trajectory.
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida.
Bigelow Aerospace was an American space design and manufacturing company which closed its doors in 2020. It was an aeronautics and outer space technology company which manufactured and developed expandable space station modules. Bigelow Aerospace was founded by Robert Bigelow in 1998, and was based in North Las Vegas, Nevada. It was funded in large part by the profit Bigelow gained through his ownership of the hotel chain, Budget Suites of America.
Blue Origin Enterprises, L.P., commonly referred to as Blue Origin is an American aerospace manufacturer, defense contractor, launch service provider and space technologies company headquartered in Kent, Washington, United States. The company makes rocket engines for United Launch Alliance (ULA)'s Vulcan rocket and manufactures their own rockets, spacecraft, satellites, and heavy-lift launch vehicles. The company is the second provider of lunar lander services for NASA's Artemis program and was awarded a $3.4 billion contract. The company has four rocket engines in production including the BE-3U, BE-3PM, BE-4 and the BE-7.
The Office of Commercial Space Transportation is the branch of the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that approves any commercial rocket launch operations — that is, any launches that are not classified as model, amateur, or "by and for the government" — in the case of a U.S. launch operator and/or a launch from the U.S.
Launch Complex 36 (LC-36)—formerly known as Space Launch Complex 36 (SLC-36) from 1997 to 2010—is a launch complex at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Brevard County, Florida. It was used for Atlas launches by NASA and the U.S. Air Force from 1962 until 2005.
Spaceport America, formerly the Southwest Regional Spaceport, is an FAA-licensed spaceport located on 18,000 acres (7,300 ha) of State Trust Land in the Jornada del Muerto desert basin 45 miles (72 km) north of Las Cruces, New Mexico, and 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Truth or Consequences. With Virgin Galactic's launch of the VSS Unity, with three people aboard, on May 22, 2021, New Mexico became the third US state to launch humans into space after California and Florida.
The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) is a commercial space launch facility located at the southern tip of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island in Virginia, just east of the Delmarva Peninsula and south of Chincoteague, Virginia, United States. It is owned and operated by the Virginia Spaceport Authority.
Space Launch Complex 20 (SLC-20), previously designated Launch Complex 20 (LC-20), is a launch site at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. SLC-20 is located at the northern terminus of ICBM Road, between Space Launch Complex 19 and Space Launch Complex 34.
Shiloh was a village in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is the northernmost place in Brevard County. Scottsmoor also shares the title, across the Indian River.
The Bigelow Next-Generation Commercial Space Station was a private orbital space station under conceptual development by Bigelow Aerospace in the 2000s and 2010s. Previous concepts of the space station had included multiple modules such as two B330 expandable spacecraft modules as well as a central docking node, propulsion, solar arrays, and attached crew capsules. However it was also suggested that each B330 can operate as an independent space station. Attaching a B330 to the International Space Station or flying a B330 alone have been suggested by Robert Bigelow.
The Commercial Spaceflight Federation is a private spaceflight industry group, incorporated as an industry association for the purposes of establishing ever higher levels of safety for the commercial human spaceflight industry, sharing best practices and expertise, and promoting the growth of the industry worldwide. Issues that the Commercial Spaceflight Federation work on include, but are not limited to, airspace issues, FAA regulations and permits, industry safety standards, public outreach, and public advocacy for the commercial space sector.
Moon Express is an American privately held early-stage company formed in 2010 by a group of Silicon Valley and space entrepreneurs. It had the goal of winning the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize, and of ultimately mining the Moon for natural resources of economic value. The company was not able to make a launch attempt to reach the Moon by March 31, 2018, the deadline for the prize.
As of 2023, SpaceX operates four launch facilities: Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40), Vandenberg Space Force Base Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E), Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A), and Brownsville South Texas Launch Site (Starbase). Space Launch Complex 40 was damaged in the AMOS-6 accident in September 2016 and repair work was completed by December 2017. SpaceX believes that they can optimize their launch operations, and reduce launch costs, by dividing their launch missions amongst these four launch facilities: LC-39A for NASA launches, SLC-40 for United States Space Force national security launches, SLC-4E for polar launches, and South Texas Launch Site for commercial launches.
Spaceport Camden is a licensed spaceport in Camden County, Georgia, near the city of Woodbine. The site tested the largest solid rocket motor ever fired as part of the Apollo Program and Camden County, Georgia was originally considered as a NASA launch site in the 1960s. Spaceport Camden began limited development as a rocket launch facility in early 2014, with its first launch taking place in August 2017, reaching 5,000 ft (1,524 m).
The following is a timeline of important events in the history of private spaceflight, including important technical as well as legislative and political advances. Though the industry has its origins in the early 1960s, soon after the beginning of the Space Age, private companies did not begin conducting launches into space until the 1980s, and it was not until the 21st century that multiple companies began privately developing and operating launch vehicles and spacecraft in earnest.
The billionaire space race is the rivalry among entrepreneurs who have entered the space industry from other industries - particularly computing. This private spaceflight race involves sending privately developed rockets and vehicles to various destinations in space, often in response to government programs or to develop the space tourism sector.
The Virginia Spaceport Authority, formally better known as Virginia Space, is a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia focused on bringing commercial spaceflight to Virginia and providing education in aerospace technologies across the Commonwealth. Created in 1995 as the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority (VCSFA) in the name of states’ rights by the Virginia General Assembly, Virginia Space owns and operates the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) on Wallops Island, located within the Wallops Flight Facility. The subdivision assumed its current name in April 2023.
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