Space Florida Selected to Manage Shuttle Landing Facility
NASA and Space Florida Begin Partnership Discussions, NASA
“NASA has selected Space Florida, the aerospace economic development agency for the state of Florida, for negotiations toward a partnership agreement to maintain and operate the historic Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF).
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and the director of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Robert Cabana, announced the selection during a news conference Friday at Kennedy’s Visitor Complex in Florida.
“This agreement will continue to expand Kennedy’s viability as a multi-user spaceport and strengthen the economic opportunities for Florida and the nation,” Bolden said. “It also continues to demonstrate NASA’s commitment and progress in building a strong commercial space industry so that American companies are providing safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station and other low Earth orbit destinations.”
Marc’s note: There’s been a real push to commercialize parts of KSC since the retirement of the Shuttle which is as it should be. Are we seeing a genuine long-term change? Is KSC to be a dual government and private space facility that can co-exist?
As a comment to Marc’s question i would say yes, commercial and government can coexist but not if commerce is governed by the DOD (i.e. the Eastern Test Range). Commercial launches from KSC and CCAFS should be under the FAA’s jurisdiction rather than the DOD’s.
Then we’d have two entities managing the same range? I don’t know a whole lot about it but the practicality of that might not make sense.