Study: Port Canaveral key to boosting Florida’s commercial space industry

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — A newly released study from Space Florida suggests Port Canaveral may hold the key to boosting Florida’s commercial space industry.

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The study looked at how to best accommodate the state’s growing space operations in and around Port Canaveral.

The answer is expected to be a costly one.

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More launches by a still-growing number of commercial launch providers means more pressure on what’s already known as one of the world’s busiest cruise ports.

That’s why Space Florida undertook what’s called a “Wharf study.”

“With maritime recovery being such a large part of the launch cycle, from liftoff through recovery, it just became clear to the stakeholders that kicked this off a little over a year ago that it’s certainly stressing and a constraint,” Space Florida President and CEO Rob Long said.

The new study identified six zones that might accommodate a new wharf and infrastructure for companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and others.

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“The most feasible concept provides for additional wharf area with access to the main port, so off to the north,” Long said.

That option would extend an area known as the Middle Turning Basin to the north. The new basin would run parallel to the existing Banana River north-south shoreline along Cape Canaveral Space Force Station property.

However, near and long-term improvements would come at an estimated cost of $ 2.1 billion dollars.

The state would seek federal funding opportunities to help protect its own economic vitality and national security interests in space.

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“I would argue it’s one of the most, if not the most critical node in the space transportation network across the globe right here,” Long said. “It really makes it important for us to be deliberate, be smart about this, and work together to get it right.”

Port Canaveral CEO Captain John Murray says the port has supported commercial space maritime operations for a decade. He added, “We look forward to continuing collaboration with federal and state partners to realize solutions to ensure the industry’s continued success.”

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