Job Losses Expected to Rise in Florida With Shuttle Shutdown, Obama Plan

Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center

23,000 now expected to lose jobs after shuttle retirement
Florida Today

Revised projections now show that about 23,000 workers at and around Kennedy Space Center will lose their jobs because of the shuttles’ retirement and the new proposal to cancel the development of new rockets and spacecraft…

That sum includes 9,000 “direct” space jobs and — conservatively speaking — 14,000 “indirect” jobs at hotels, restaurants, retail stores and others that depend on activity at the space center, said Lisa Rice, Brevard Workforce president.

The organization’s earlier estimate of 7,000 direct jobs reflected just the retirement of the shuttle program. The updated numbers also include the cancellation of Project Constellation and other initiatives as outlined in the president’s 2011 budget, Rice said.

“Our unemployment rate is going to skyrocket,” she warned Thursday during a five-hour Brevard County Commission space workshop. Much conversation centered on the future of human space launches from KSC, and attendees heaped criticism on Obama’s strategy.

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