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A New Orbit: Florida’s Space Coast Booming
By Thomas Ehlers, Staff Writer
Photos by Sean Cannon
There’s a new space race growing across Florida’s Space Coast. It doesn’t involve world superpowers or Cold War rivalries, but instead public and private entities searching for the perfect places to explore spaceflight and the forefront of technology.
The Sunshine State has been synonymous with space flight since the late 1950s when the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was formed, but Florida’s Space Coast has seen a rebirth of opportunity and investment in the past several years. In 2023, the area hosted a record 72 launches – accounting for approximately 70% of launches across the country – and sent 1,400 payloads totaling 2 million pounds into orbit.
Space Florida, Florida’s aerospace and spaceport development authority formed in 2006, has played a vital role in these launches. President and CEO Robert Long joined the organization last year after a decorated military career including 23 years in the U.S. Air Force and 3 in the Space Force. He noted that while the industry is finally where it thought it would be 20 years ago, the energy is here.
We’ve consistently increased year-over-year for the last five or six years,” Long said. “I think it really highlights the demand signal, the tempo by which space transportation is growing in terms of activity in general.
Supporting The Skies
Several technological enhancements have contributed to the rapid rise of rocket work, Long said, most notably the advent of reusable boosters – these provide more costeffective solutions to travel – and smaller satellites. These satellites utilize technologies that have driven computers and cell phones smaller and more capable.
But for companies, it’s often the benefits of Florida that drive them to do this work in the state.
Florida Power and Light (FPL) holds several strategic partnerships with entities across the Space Coast, forging cost-effective solutions for utilities.
“Power is a critical component for aerospace companies, especially those doing manufacturing and processing work,” said FPL Lead Economic Development Project Manager Katie Hogan. “FPL and PoweringFlorida have been working alongside our partners for decades to capitalize on the growth of the industry and bring more job opportunities to Florida. There is no sign of the commercial space industry slowing, and FPL and PoweringFlorida are well-positioned to support that development.”
In 2023, FPL supported a number of projects for a variety of companies, including Blue Origin, OneWeb Satellites, and Kuiper Satellites. It provides services including an Economic Development Rider program that provides discounts on service demand for up to five years, as well as a Commercial Industrial Service Rider to new, large energy users.
“It really starts with trying to find an ideal fit, both for the company and the communities FPL serves,” Hogan said. “Factors like workforce availability, energy costs and infrastructure access are all critical to companies looking for their next location, so the PoweringFlorida team works with our economic development partners to make the most compelling case for those companies.”
Additionally, Space Florida offers a toolkit to interested companies that aid with everything from equipment financing to infrastructure funding.
“We look at our role as investors, maybe not in the traditional sense in terms of actually investing capital, but investing in companies that show great potential for growth in terms of technology,” Long said. “We’re looking at the entire spectrum – we want to work at the university level, early phase research into science and technology so that we are building that into a pipeline to try and grow that foundational research base.”
A Busy 2024
2024 marks a historic year of many “firsts” for the Space Coast.
The United Launch Alliance (ULA) completed a launch of its Vulcan VC2S rocket, marking the first certification mission from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The mission delivered a lunar lander into orbit more than 220,000 miles from Earth and a payload into deep space.
Boeing is set to launch the first flight with a commercial crew when its Starliner lifts off in June. The crew will leave Space Launch Complex 41 on a weeklong mission.
The Sierra Space Dream Chaser is set to launch later in the year as the only commercial runway capable space plane. The revolutionary winged vehicle can hold more than 6 tons of pressurized and unpressurized cargo while limiting forces to 1.5 g-forces on reentry. This NASA-backed project aims to provide cargo delivery, return and disposal service for the International Space Station.
Finally, the first stage of Blue Origin’s reusable New Glenn, a large rocket for larger payloads, is designed to complete a minimum of 25 flights. The rocket utilizes powerful and efficient American-made engines to complete flights for civil, national security and commercial partners.
“A lot of those have been in development for a while,” Long said. “I think this year, if those are all successful, it will be a really a milestone year.”
It follows a successful year in 2023 when Amazon announced an investment of $120 million towards its Project Kuiper. The funds are being used to construct a satellite processing facility at Space Florida’s Launch and Landing Facility (LLF).
Projected to finish in 2025, the facility upgrades will add more than 100,000 square feet of payload processing and support facilities for Project Kuiper’s network of low-orbit satellites that aim to provide fast, affordable broadband access to unserved and underserved communities.
Additionally, the state completed several other infrastructure projects during the last calendar year. Project Constitution saw the completion of $75 million in improvements and upgrades to the Spacecraft Integration Facility, while Project Poseidon completed $201 million worth of projects for facility upgrades and a replacement of equipment at a ship-repair facility. Project Upgrade II saw $12.4 million in support to CAE, a civil aviation, defense and security company, and its expansion and new training center.
These projects are only part of the state and nation’s growing space portfolio – an industry with tremendous upside.
“When you look at the aerospace market, it’s an area that I think the U.S. at large has been a leader for some time,” Long said. “It makes sense to continue to push on that leadership, both on the space side and the broader aerospace and aviation side, as well as the associated technologies that come with that.”
A New Industry For A Growing One
Companies aren’t the only entities reaping the benefits of a growing Space Coast. The municipalities across the area are enjoying a financial return.
“The interesting thing is we’re seeing (revenues) increase,” Long said. “The likelihood of larger projects coming to fruition more often in the coming years, we could see about a billion dollars per year of economic impact come into the state from some of those.”
While industry along the Space Coast grows, so do related ones. Tourist Development Tax revenues have grown more than 60% due to efforts by the Space Coast Office of Tourism, the addition of several cruise ships to Port Canaveral – making it the second busiest cruise port in the world – and more frequent air service to Melbourne International Airport, all of which stem from launch growth.
“A significant increase in the number of launches has also contributed to the awareness of the area with the traveling consumer, and the desire to see a launch continues to make people’s bucket list,” Space Coast Office of Tourism Executive Director Peter Cranis said. “The crewed launches drive incremental tourists, as well as an overall interest in the public to come visit Kennedy Space Center.”
As a result, area hotel inventories have grown by 1,500 rooms since 2019 and are poised to grow by another 12 properties and 1,400 rooms by the end of 2025. Similarly, the average daily rate of these rooms has risen from the low $100s to more than $160, reflective of the strength the industry has with consumers. Additionally, USA Today included the Space Coast in its Top 10 Best Summer Travel Destinations.
Long projects that the industry will see an increase in life science projects, competition with projects that hold market value and space transportation over the next decade. Initially, Space Florida projected 110 launches will happen this calendar year, and while that number might finish closer to 100, it’s up to the organization to sustain recent momentum.
“The number one challenge we have from a Space Florida perspective is just keeping up with the demand signal of companies wanting to come to the state to grow,” Long said.
“That’s a great problem to have for us, but we’re going to keep scaling to meet that demand. When you look ahead and think about what comes next, it’s an exciting time to be a part of this business.”
