Community Budget Issue Requests - Tracking Id #1880
Florida Sub-Orbital Commercial Research & Training Center
Requester:		Sam Durrance			Organization:		Florida Institute of Technology
Project Title:		Florida Sub-Orbital Commercial Research & Training Center			Date Submitted		1/4/2008 2:23:52 PM
Sponsors:		Altman
Statewide Interest:
The Florida Commercial Sub-orbital Research and Training Program complies with Florida Statute 216.052 community budget request criteria. The "Program" meets the documented need as described in the 2006 Governor's Commission on the Future of Aviation and Aerospace in Florida and identified in the Space Florida Strategic Business Plan and this project addresses the statewide interests of retaining jobs, attracting commercial spaceflight, especially sub-orbital flight, attracting research funds and training the next generation of space workers. The program also supports the new Exploration Mission by NASA to return to the Moon and beyond. The program can also be leveraged by the COTS (Commercial Orbital Transportation System) program in developing components of vehicles in Florida.
Recipient:		Florida Institute of Technology			Contact:		Frank Kinney
		150 West University Boulevard			Contact Phone:		(321) 674-8961
		Melbourne 32901-6975			Contact email:		fkinney@fit.edu
Counties:		Brevard, {Statewide}
Gov't Entity:			Private Organization (Profit/Not for Profit):					Yes
Project Description:
Florida is the world's premier launch site but is steadily loosing both programs and has a diminishing launch rate. With the fly-out of the Space Shuttle program in 2010 Florida and the possible loss of more than 5,000 high-tech, high-paying jobs, Florida must aggressively pursue the "new" space section. That sector includes sub-orbital flight and air launch vehicles. All of this is well documented in the 2006 Final Report from the Florida's Governor Commission on the Future of Aviation and Aerospace. The Florida Commercial Sub-orbital Research and Training Program is a unique partnership creating a commercial research and training program for attracting the new space industry. The key components are the unique capabilities of: 1. NASA's Kennedy Space Center - Technology Office 2. NASA's Shuttle Landing Facility 3. Florida Institute of Technology 4. F104s - Starfighters, Inc. 5. Hyperbaric Chamber - Brevard Hyperbaric and the regulators of 6. Federal Aviation Authority/United States Air Force 45th Space Wing. The program will utilizes the high-altitude and sonic capabilities of a small fleet of F104 aircraft that can achieve an altitude of 100,000 feet and fly above 99% earth's atmosphere. Melbourne International Airport will be the host for this program and coordinating for siting, safety, scheduling flights and partnering with other entities. This environment is needed for commercial human spaceflight training for sub-orbital flight. It is needed for testing components and units for orbital space systems. It is needed as a test bed to test new Range equipment in a controllable environment. NASA has already authorized two NASA-development systems to be flown from the Kennedy Space Center and to be monitored by the 45th Space Wing. This high-altitude environment is also ideal, in tandem with the hyperbaric chamber, to test space suits and life support systems. Florida Institute of Technology in conjunction with Starfighters will develop an education exhibit primarily for 6th-12th grade students. Florida Tech will also use this program to use the only commercially available sonic aircraft in the country to teach classes in aerodynamics, high altitude and sonic flight. This center is being recommended to directly compete with the New Mexico announcement (expected February 1, 2007) for a human spaceflight training center in Las Cruses. Companies like RocketPlane, Virgin Galactic and Space Adventures could all use that center. This would be catalyst program to retain and attract more space jobs. With the two successful flights in 2007, the program demonstrated it could fly sub-orbital sonic profiles to be a pathfinder for sub-orbital spaceflight. The second flight demonstrated it could successfully fly NASA payloads with the use of Florida professors and graduate students. This creates a way for NASA to use Florida commercial and academic sources to accomplish both state economic and research goals and assist NASA with its National Space Policy and Exploration goals.
Is this a project related to a federal or state declared disaster?							No
Measurable Outcome Anticipated:
Assist approximately 6 sub-orbital contractors. Ten flights, sixteen experiments, 500 6th-12th graders, four classes for 60 undergraduate and graduate students.
Amount requested from the State for this project this year:						$985,000
Total cost of the project:			$1,412,000
Request has been made to fund:				Operations
What type of match exists for this project?					Local, Private, Federal
	Cash Amount		$			In-kind Amount		$407,500
Was this project previously funded by the state?							Yes
	Fiscal Year:		2007-2008		Amount:		$200,000
Is future-year funding likely to be requested?							No
Was this project included in an Agency's Budget Request?							No
Was this project included in the Governor's Recommended Budget?							Unknown
Is there a documented need for this project?						Yes
	Documentation:		Space FL Strategic Business Plan; Governor's Commiss. Future of Aviation & Aerospace; F.S. 331.301
Was this project request heard before a publicly noticed meeting of a body of elected officials (municipal, county, or state)?							Yes
	Hearing Body:			Brevard Legislative Delegation (February 27, 2008)
Is this a water project as described in Section 403.885, Laws of Florida?								No