Camden County Given OK to Purchase Land for Spaceport
Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett has denied a request from opponents of Spaceport Camden to restrain Camden County from purchasing land for the Georgia facility from Union Carbide. WABE radio reports:
The judge said the opponents waited until the last minute for their latest legal move, when they had known since 2015 that county commissioners planned to buy the property.
“Plaintiffs could have acted sooner but chose not to, and certainly did not act at their first opportunity,” Scarlett wrote in the order.
The ruling now allows the county to close on the property, barring unforeseen circumstances.
The Current reports that opponents filed an appeal of Scarlett’s decision with the Georgia Court of Appeals late Friday.
Opponents, who oppose the project on safety and financial grounds, had wanted the judge to prohibit the purchase of the land until Camden County residents could vote on whether to approve it in a referendum. They say they have collected enough signatures to put the question to a vote. Those signatures are now being verified.
Unlike other U.S. spaceports that are situated on the coast, Spaceport Camden would be located inland. Rockets launched from the facility would fly over Cumberland Island National Seashore, a federal protected wilderness used by tens of thousands of campers and tourists annually. People who own homes near the flight path fear that a launch accident could destroy their residences.
Despite safety concerns, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved the Spaceport Camden project. The facility is being designed to host launch by small-satellite boosters. The FAA must still approve launch licenses for rockets that will fly from the spaceport.
13 responses to “Camden County Given OK to Purchase Land for Spaceport”
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It’s too bad that it will be overflying Cumberland Island, most of which is part of the Cumberland Island National Seashore. This will require about half of the island to be closed to visitors on launch days.
Through some strong will over the decades Cumberland Island has been kept free from development, with only previously existing structures allowed, mainly some homes belonging to Carnegie and Candler heirs (Candler was basically the Ray Kroc of Coca-Cola). Many of them have donated their property to the National Park Service, although they are allowed to live there until the end of their lives.
There is no bridge to the island only a ferry, and the only thing visitors are allowed to bring are bicycles and camping gear, no cars. There is only one hotel on the island the historic Greyfield Inn.
It looks like the northern half of the island will be closed for launches and launch attempts, which will cut off many of the hiking and biking trails. Although fortunately it looks like only one of the five campgrounds on the island will be affected. My guess is that they will close the northern part of the island at least one day before a launch attempt since it will take time for the park rangers to make sure that everyone has cleared out.
It’s possible that launches will be very infrequent depending on how many small launch companies find it suitable. It’s easy to look at it now and say no one will want to use it, but that is nearly impossible to predict.
you make excellent points. this makes no sense to me (the launch site)
I agree. There is no market or function for this Spaceport.
That remains to be seen. The progressive trustafarian bozos on their federally-protected private island don’t seem to share your certainty on this point.
Steve, Spaceport Camden is only approved for a rocket with up to 18,500# of thrust. That’s equivalent to the never-built Vector R. There are no US rockets small enough to meet the environmental and safety constraints written into the Record of Decision. Open ocean begins almost 10 miles downrange. Even if there were a rocket, launches from Spaceport Camden would be the most expensive place to launch from because the operator will have to buy insurance to launch over people, their residences, and the National Seashore.
There aren’t any residences in the northern part of the island, that’s all several miles to the south. The only thing in the northern part of the island are a couple of historic buildings, which is a mansion that a Carnegie used to live in, and a tiny historic church, which happens to be where JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette got married when they had their super secret wedding ceremony to avoid the intense media circus that was going on.
The main interruption will be keeping people from the hiking and biking trails and beaches in the northern part of the island. Which would be pretty disappointing for people who travel a bit of a distance to get there and who aren’t aware of an upcoming rocket launch, and find out that a large part of the island is off limits while they are there.
That is not correct. There are about 50 residences within 100 yards to 3 miles NORTH of the trajectory centerline, and the Candler-Warren High Point Compound (11 residential buildings containing 28 bedrooms) plus other private residences 1 to 2 miles SOUTH of the only approved trajectory centerline. Spaceport Camden was approved with the narrowest downrange Hazard Zone of any spaceport because it’s hypothetical micro rocket is the only one that could be approved. Its trajectory profile requires vertical loft to about 75,000 feet before the gravity turn can commence to get the rocket high enough to reduce risk numbers to within legal bounds. Such a trajectory is inefficient requiring more fuel per payload pound. The historic sites are as you described, but you forgot the Little Cumberland Island Lighthouse which is on the National Historic Register.
happy birthday Doug.
BREAKING:
Anti-spaceport petitioners filed an appeal late Friday in an attempt to keep alive an effort to block the purchase of land from Union Carbide for the county-led commercial spaceport project. The plaintiffs’ move sends the case to the Georgia Court of Appeals. Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett on Thursday denied the injunction, which was needed to prevent the purchase of the property until the citizens could vote on the measure. Scarlett wrote that the plaintiffs should have brought their case sooner. 3,850 Camden residents who signed a petition to force a referendum on the land purchase are appealing the denial. The former Union Carbide/Thiokol site is contaminated with hundreds of acres of known and undiscovered hazardous waste sites from the manufacture of munitions, trip flares, Temik pesticide, methyl-isocyante fines, and CS gas manufacturing. More than 200 acres are known test fields for 40 and 81mm mortars that will be fenced and off-limits. Without the land, which is surrounded on three sides by coastal tidewaters and marsh, the spaceport project cannot advance.
It has been mostly forgotten for some reason but in 1971 there was an explosion at the former Thiokol facility on the site of the proposed spaceport where tripflares were being made. Twenty-nine people died and fifty were injured. Rescue and transportation of victims was hampered by the remote location, and was somewhat delayed because there was not an immediate awareness of how bad the situation was until the first rescue crews arrived.
Wikipedia has a comprehensive article: link
You have to wonder what the bureaucrats at the FAA are thinking to approve a spaceport at this location. It fails on every aspect including risks to third parties from launches.
There’s no human life in danger, just a few of the progressive idle rich.