Florida Senate approves spaceport territories
The Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a proposal that would designate property at Tyndall Air Force Base in Bay County and within the former boundaries of Homestead Air Force Base in Miami-Dade County as “spaceport territory.”
▶ WATCH CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS
Sponsor Alexis Calatayud, R-Miami, said the bill (SB 968) would help the state attract more aerospace supply-chain companies, boost the aerospace industry and insulate areas from federal decisions that could affect bases.
“I believe this is a very important step forward in making sure that greater territory across Florida is utilized for space commerce,” Calatayud said.
Read: Brevard is buzzing with bees as effort is made to save the honeybees
A key part of the work of Space Florida, the state’s aerospace agency, has been facilitating financing, mostly for private research-and-development and manufacturing projects.
But its ability to develop space infrastructure is limited to areas designated as “spaceport territories.”
Such territories are designated in Brevard, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Gulf, Walton and Duval counties.
A similar measure (HB 577) has gone through House committees and is positioned to go to the full House.
Read: Two rare ‘leaplings’ are born on Leap Day 2024
Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
