California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a measure that will give SpaceX and other aerospace companies a decade-long exemption from property taxes for launch vehicle propulsion systems. Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance), who sponsored the measure, said the new law will qualify rocket propulsion systems for an existing business inventory tax exemption. The goal is to help keep the growing entrepreneurial space sector in California. “California’s aerospace industry is a vital […]
A measure that will provide spaceflight companies with a 10-year exemption from certain property taxes has passed the California Senate. Senators voted 32-2 to approve the bill, which had already passed the Assembly by a 69-5 vote. The measure will go to Gov. Jerry Brown for signing if the Assembly agrees with the Senate’s amendments to it. As amended by the Senate, the property tax exemption would apply to Tangible […]
Gov. Jerry Brown
SACRAMENTO (Gov. Brown’s Office) -– Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today signed a bill to boost the commercial space-travel sector in California. Assembly Bill 2243 (Knight) limits liability for space-flight companies.
“California aerospace pioneers like Virgin Galactic, SpaceX and the Spaceship Company are blazing a path to the stars with commercial space travel,” said Governor Brown. “This bill allows commercial space-travel companies to innovate and explore without the worry of excessive liability.”
By Duane Hyland, AIAA Communications
California’s aerospace industry dwarfs both Hollywood and Agriculture as the state’s primary source of jobs, an AIAA panel reminded representatives of the California state legislature at the California State Capitol Building, Sacramento, Calif., on Tuesday, 8 August. The event’s theme was: “California Aerospace: Stuck in the Past, or Rocketing into the Future?”
The panel was moderated by Ivan Rosenburg, management consultant at Frontier Associates, and was composed of: Lt. Gen. Gene Tattini, U.S. Air Force (retired), Deputy Director, NASA Joint Propulsion Laboratory, and former Commander, U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center; Ken Guss, former CEO, Klune Industries; Randy Garber, partner, A.T. Kearney Global Management Consultants, who led A.T. Kearney’s analysis of the Californian aerospace industry in 2008; Gregory C. Hill, director of marketing, Ordnance Systems, Meggit Defense Systems; and Ross G. Bell, AIAA, who spent an hour and a half reviewing the current state of California aerospace and the possible dark future of the industry in California, unless substantive governmental reforms are made.
To boldly go.... (Credit: Douglas Messier)
By Douglas Messier
Parabolic Arc Managing Editor
The East Kern Airport District (EKAD) has hired a former state senator to help promote legislation that would limit the liability of spacecraft operators if they injure passengers during flights.
On Tuesday, the EKAD Board of Directors voted to hire former Sen. Roy Ashburn at a rate of $5,000 per month over six months for consulting services. Ashburn’s main responsibility is to promote an informed consent bill introduced in February by Assemblyman Steve Knight of California’s 36th district.
To boldly go.... (Credit: Douglas Messier)
By Douglas Messier
Parabolic Arc Managing Editor
“California can have either all the regulation or all the business, but it can’t have both.”
That was the message delivered to a high-level state official who visited the Mojave Air and Space Port last week to see what Sacramento can do to help keep the burgeoning commercial space industry from moving to other states with fewer regulations, lower taxes and financial incentives.
By Douglas Messier
Parabolic Arc Managing Editor
Mojave Air and Space Port General Manager Stu Witt is making some progress in his campaign to get Sacramento to provide more support for his facility and the aerospace industry across California.
Witt told the East Kern Airport District Board of Directors on Tuesday that he recently got a call from the office of Gov. Jerry Brown, which will be sending an advance team from the state’s Office of Economic Development for a one-day visit to the desert spaceport. The call came after a letter of support from Larry Adams and Jay Sprague, president and vice president, respectively, of the California City Development Corporation.
Although the Mojave spaceport is thriving as an R&D center, it is doing so in spite of a terrible business climate caused by high taxes and burdensome regulations, Witt believes. The state is under serious threat of losing its innovative aerospace companies to other states that are offering financial incentives and looser regulations. The state earlier lost its aircraft industry in a similar manner.
By Douglas Messier
Parabolic Arc Managing Editor
A limited liability bill protecting spacecraft operators from lawsuits except if they are grossly negligent or intentionally cause injury to spaceflight participants is making its way through the California Legislature. The measure would put the state on an even footing with New Mexico, Virginia and Florida, which have passed similar measures.
The bill, introduced by Assemblyman Steve Knight of California’s 36th district, would
require a space flight entity, as defined, to collect a signed warning statement, as specified, from each participant in space flight activities, as defined. In addition to the disclosures required by federal law, the bill would require the warning statement to, at a minimum, inform the participant that the space flight entity is not liable for bodily injury sustained as a result of the risks associated with space flight activities. The bill would limit the liability of a space flight entity that complies with these provisions, except as provided. The bill would state findings and declarations of the Legislature regarding the nature of the space flight industry.
