Space Florida chief: Up to 200 launches a year likely

A Space Florida official says the region could see as many as 200 launches a year as firms including SpaceX, United Launch Alliance and OneWeb boost production and ramp up their schedules.

President and CEO Frank DiBello said that means the region’s space economy must be nimble enough to meet that demand.

“We need to move from a paradigm of large federally funded infrastructure to one that is responsive to commercial markets,” he said Wednesday at a Space Florida board meeting in Orlando.

The board also approved as much as $26 million during the next two fiscal years for improvements on Launch Complex 36, which is being prepared for future launches by Blue Origin, owned by Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com.

Last month, permit applications filed by Blue Origin with the St. Johns River Water Management District revealed the firm planned to refurbish complex 36 and adjacent complex 11, which hasn’t seen a launch since 1964. Last year, the company promised to create more than 300 jobs on the Space Coast.

That activity, along with the impending arrival of the satellite company OneWeb, SpaceX’s upcoming return to launching from Florida after a Sept. 1 explosion and the Blue Origin plan has DiBello pushing for Space Florida to respond more quickly when companies seek incentives. “The progress being made is extensive and they are only being held up by the amount of time it takes to process documents and gain approval,” he said. “There has been some competition going on. They have successfully kept pressure on (each other) ... so we are benefiting from that.”

Perhaps that benefit includes attracting new businesses.

A secretive Canadian firm will bring 80 high-paying jobs to Titusville after it invests about $4 million in a new facility at Space Coast Regional Airport. “This company does have skin in the game,” said Bill Dymond, chairman of the Space Florida board of directors. “They are invested in the project already.”

At the board meeting, trustees approved a plan that has Space Florida helping arrange financing and leases for land owned by the Titusville-Cocoa Airport Authority.

DiBello didn’t mention the firm by name but said it would be a “star” that plans on “increasing its presence” on the Space Coast.