Florida Legislature Passes Spaceport Territory Bill
Florida Legislature Passes Spaceport Territory Bill
Eases Requirements for Funding
The Florida legislature has passed CS/SB 968, a bill dealing with definitions for a Spaceport Territory. The vote was unanimous in both houses of the legislature.
"This legislation can attract new and diverse aerospace companies, driving economic growth and private investment in new regions and contributing to the enhancement and resilience of our military bases.”
Rob Long, Space Florida
The bill was sponsored by Florida Senator Alexis Calatayud (R), who represents a portion of Miami-Dade county, and Senator Jay Trumbull (R), who's district runs along a portion of the Florida panhandle gulf coast. In the House, the bill was introduced by Rep. Philip Griffitts (R), Ydolia Garcia (R) and Jim Mooney (R).
The bill revises the definition of “spaceport discretionary capacity improvement projects” to mean capacity improvements that enhance space transportation capacity at any spaceport or on spaceport territory. The bill removes the requirement that a spaceport or spaceport territory must have had at least one orbital flight or suborbital flight within the previous calendar year or have an agreement in writing for installation of one or more regularly scheduled orbital or suborbital flights for the commitment of funds for spaceport discretionary capacity improvement projects.
In addition, the bill broadens the scope of the strategic space infrastructure investment funding eligibility and authorizes the Florida Department of Transportation, in consultation with Space Florida, to fund spaceport discretionary capacity improvement projects, instead of strategic spaceport launch facilities, at up to 100 percent of the project’s cost. The revised eligibility criteria includes the provision that the project provide important access and on-spaceport-territory space transportation capacity improvements.
The bill expands spaceport territory to include certain real property in Miami-Dade County consisting of property which was formerly included within the boundaries of Homestead Air Force Base and is included in the Homestead Air Reserve Base or deeded to Miami-Dade County or the City of Homestead. The bill also delineates the Homestead Air Force Base property.
The bill also expands spaceport territory to include certain real property in Bay County which is included within the boundaries of Tyndall Air Force Base.
If approved by the Governor, or allowed to become law without the Governor’s signature, these provisions take effect July 1, 2024.
“Thank you to Sen. Calatayud, Sen. Trumbull, Rep. Griffitts, Rep. Garcia, and Rep. Mooney for leading the charge to help further establish the space transportation network in the state and provide optionality for future development," Space Florida CEO Rob Long said in a statement posted on the agency website. "This legislation can attract new and diverse aerospace companies, driving economic growth and private investment in new regions and contributing to the enhancement and resilience of our military bases. All while strengthening the critical node at Cape Canaveral by creating a network of complementary facilities. We are rapidly approaching a future where economic activity is happening in space at scale, and this future demands infrastructure and systems that are multi-modal and interconnected.
“Florida is undoubtedly leading the charge and is well positioned to remain a global leader in an integrated space-earth economy. With the passage of this legislation, we can address the needs of a growing industry and make strategic infrastructure investment in our quinta-modal transportation network a priority.”