State approves up to $65 million for Cape Canaveral space project 'to cement Florida's place in history'

Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel on Dec 18, 2024

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Space Florida approved up to $65 million of state funds Wednesday to help stimulate a $1.8 billion launch site project in Cape Canaveral known as “Project Hinton.”

In a vote held by the state’s aerospace finance and development authority during a special project board of directors meeting, members approved matching grant funds sought by the unnamed company’s application of up to $50 million for construction of a “high-volume production facility, high bay and related infrastructure” through Space Florida’s Call for Projects within the Florida Spaceport Improvement Program in partnership with the Florida Department of Transportation.

It also approved $15 million in common use funds for “utility improvements including power modifications and industrial wastewater treatment.”

“While there may be much work to do, we look forward to partnering with Project Hinton and local stakeholders to cement Florida’s place in history for decades to come,” Space Florida CEO Rob Long said during a presentation before the unanimous vote.

Space Florida forecasts the Cape Canaveral Spaceport project will amount to $1.8 billion in capital improvements with construction beginning as early as January and lasting 18 to 24 months. It’s forecast to bring 600 jobs with average wages of $93,000 a year.

The scope of the project “will enable rapid manufacturing, assembly and integration of flight hardware” and “significantly increase the volume and mass of payload to orbit from Florida,” according to the meeting agenda notes.

Details on where construction will take place were not revealed, but those numbers fall in line with building out a SpaceX Starship manufacturing site that could support its pursuit of two planned launch pads for its in-development rocket at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and Kennedy Space Center.

In comparison, Blue Origin CEO Jeff Bezos has invested more than $1 million for Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 36 to support his company’s New Glenn launches.

“I would say this effort represents a tremendous opportunity with state and local communities to expand upon our leadership and reap the benefits of the global hub for interplanetary commerce,” Long said. “Not only will it increase the overall capacity of the Cape Canaveral Spaceport complex but will also have a significant and positive impact globally.”

SpaceX is eyeing for Starship the use of Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 37, which this year saw its last Delta IV Heavy launch for United Launch Alliance. SpaceX is also pursuing Starship launch capability at KSC’s Launch Complex 39-A where it already launches Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.

The proposed Canaveral site is in the midst of an environmental impact study led by the Air Force, while the KSC site has one being run by the Federal Aviation Administration.

While Space Florida isn’t saying SpaceX, the purpose of Starship according to CEO Elon Musk is to make life multiplanetary as he pursues a colony on Mars, and the rhetoric used by Space Florida’s Long mirrored those lofty aspirations.

“We are indeed fortunate that many embrace the vision as it requires embracing the truth that humanity’s story is one relentless exploration and we are getting to write the next volume,” Long said.

If it is to support Starship, it would help enable SpaceX’s plans to launch each year hundreds and eventually thousands of the massive rockets in its efforts to pursue Mars colonization. For now, SpaceX has flown six suborbital test flights of the rocket from its Texas launch site, which features manufacturing facilities where both the Super Heavy booster and upper stage Starship hardware is pumped out at a high pace.

SpaceX for now has an assembly processing site on KSC property for its Falcon rocket hardware, but they are manufactured in California.

“This is one of those projects that will be transformative for the region, the state and for America, but more importantly, it’s building upon a foundation that our state and local communities have been invested in over the past 10 years,” Long said. “It requires a continued and holistic look at the entire infrastructure ecosystem and in investing in the foundations that made such visions possible.”

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