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Space Politics

Because sometimes the most important orbit is the Beltway…

The Space Coast’s not feeling the love

February 27, 2006 at 6:51 am · Filed under Other

After viewing this Florida Today editorial cartoon, it’s clear that people in Florida’s Space Coast region don’t feel like they’re getting much support from the state government, including governor Jeb Bush, to help the state’s space industry compared to biotech ventures. However, given that the state legislature is starting to take up tax incentives designed to help space companies, one wonders if this view is a bit premature.

Update: The Orlando Sentinel weighs in on the topic: in an editorial Monday, while congratulating the state for its work to date, argues that the legislature should spend more on space industry incentives. “With a projected $3 billion in additional sales-tax revenues, the state can afford it.”

4 Comments

  Michael Spencer wrote @ February 27th, 2006 at 7:33 am

Well. So now the people are whining because the folks who worship at the Church of the Free Market won’t help them out?

What a laugh.

I’m a Florida resident and the decline of our space coast is plain sickening. But people voted them in, and they got what they deserve.

Does anybody remeber what happened to our outstanding aerospace industry in southern California, when a similarly-minded administration decided to go to church, rather than do what government does best?

  Donald F. Robertson wrote @ February 27th, 2006 at 12:40 pm

I fully agree, Michael.

– Donald

  Jim Muncy wrote @ February 27th, 2006 at 5:37 pm

1) I seem to recall that the California Democratic legislature’s tax & regulatory policies have had some impact on the departure of aerospace and other high tech from SoCal.

2) Why shouldn’t Jeb Bush focus limited taxpayer resources in attracting a *growing* dynamic industry sector like biotech that has kazillion end-user customers, instead of a declining static sector like NASA vehicle assembly & operations?

Now, if Florida were serious about marrying its Disney/tourism leadership to its NASA historic atmosphere, they’d pay t/Space or Elon $100 million to build and operate orbital tourism (and ISS crew transfer) services at Canaveral.
(Wouldn’t you want to fly into space from the same launch base Apollo astronauts did?)

– Jim

  Shubber Ali wrote @ February 27th, 2006 at 10:02 pm

“they’d pay t/Space or Elon $100 million to build and operate orbital tourism (and ISS crew transfer) services at Canaveral. ”

I’m sorry – i must have been dozing off. What company offers orbital tourism vehicles? (and the Russians don’t count – i doubt the US would allow soyuz launches from Florida…)

“(Wouldn’t you want to fly into space from the same launch base Apollo astronauts did?)”

I doubt that would be the compelling differentiator for most people – simply going to orbit would be enough. But how many of those people have the $$ available and the desire to go to orbit (the venn diagram of these two criteria does not necessarily have much overlap in the circles…)

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