Space Florida President Voices Support for Obama’s Commercial Space Goals

There are signs that officials in Florida are beginning to come around to President Barack Obama’s new plan for NASA. In an opinion piece published last Thursday in the Miami Herald and Tallahassee Democrat, Space Florida President Frank DiBello embraces the development of a commercial space sector:

It is clear, and has been for many years, that the future of space, along with the investment, innovation, and jobs that go along with it, lies in the innovations of the commercial sector.  There indeed could have been a less painful path to this evident redirection. But at least for Florida, while we’ve been engaged in our number one priority ­­– advocating to save our highly-valuable collective workforce – we’ve also had the foresight to gauge the general trajectory.  We are more than ready to leverage our assets and embrace our role to support America’s leadership in space.

The recent announcements by NASA leadership, and today’s appearance by President Obama to face his influential constituents in Florida and assure them that national assets will not be squandered, demonstrates that although the specifics may not be clear, the future holds promise beyond the near-term.  Florida gets it, from every angle.  Concurrent with the public outcry through online petitions and public rallies to save our aerospace talent-base, other, less conspicuous efforts are positioning Florida in its rightful role as the world premier center for commercial space launch and technology development.  Together, NASA, private companies, its centers throughout the United States, and Florida can ensure our nation remains first in space.

Space Florida is a state agency that is chartered with fostering commercial space development. The agency has a number of on-going projects, including leases to develop two former launch complex at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station for commercial use. The Florida Legislature is currently working on a bill to boost state spending on aerospace to encourage and attract commercial ventures.

Under Obama’s plan, federal money would be spent to upgrade the infrastructure and facilities at the aging Kennedy Space Center, which would host new commercial rockets that would replace NASA’s planned Ares boosters. NASA would spend $6 billion over the next five years to foster development of the new rockets. There also would be money spent on job transition efforts for laid off space workers.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has strongly opposed the cancellation of the Ares program, seeing it as a double whammy to the Space Coast as NASA prepares to end space shuttle operations later this year. The Obama Administration believes that Ares is simply too expensive to build.

DiBello’s op-ed piece seems to be an acknowledgment by the Crist Administration that Florida can benefit from the new plan’s emphasis on commercial space development.  It’s interesting to note that Space Florida is a member of the Next Step in Space Coalition, which last week issued a statement strongly endorsing NASA’s new direction. Other members of the coalition in Florida include the Space Coast Economic Development Commission, Associated Industries of Florida, and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

DiBello  sees a transition ahead, one that will be rocky but worth it in the end:

The looming dread of entire regions that stand to lose not just jobs – but valuable talent assets as the Shuttle workforce, and now Constellation teams – hangs heavy over November elections.  The swath across Florida’s central region from Cape Canaveral to Tampa, known as Florida’s High-Tech Corridor, is a key voting block, and these policies will certainly sway voters as the potential loss of more than 23,000 direct and indirect jobs will grab headlines and the hearts of its voting public.

But space within itself is a venture that has borne even greater sacrifices to further its core aspirations.   The American spirit is founded on the innovations of individuals and entrepreneurial ventures, not government policy….

We’ll see what happens….