The Sheboygan Press reports that the Wisconsin State Assembly has approved legislation that would create the Wisconsin Aerospace Authority, the first step towards the development of a commercial spaceport in the state. The state senate approved the legislation last week, as previously noted here.
The bill was introduced to create the framework for the eventual creation of a spaceport, but the newspaper article about the legislation plays this down: “The bill was introduced to help establish a $15 million, 52,000-square-foot Spaceport Sheboygan Space & Science Center, proposed by members of the Sheboygan Development Corp. to complement the current Rockets for Schools program hosted each spring on Sheboygan’s lakefront.” There’s a big difference between a “space and science center” and a full-fledged spaceport. (An updated version of the article explains that the creation of the authority allows the Rockets for Schools program to seek federal funds to support the creation of the center.)
Still, one of the sponsors, Sen. Joe Leibham, says, “While this proposal may seem somewhat futuristic, the reality is that the future has arrived. The amount of investments and the number of jobs being created in the aerospace industry across our nation are sky rocketing.” One wonder if the number of jobs in the aerospace industry is really “sky rocketing”.
