SpaceX photo by Chris Thompson for Headline Surfer/ On Dec. 8, 2010, SpaceX became the first commercial company in history to re-enter a spacecraft from Earth orbit. SpaceX launched its Dragon spacecraft into orbit atop a Falcon 9 rocket at 10:43 a.m. EST from Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Dragon spacecraft orbited the Earth at speeds greater than 7,600 meters per second (17,000 miles per hour), re-entered the Eart's atmosphere, and landed in its targeted landing zone in the Pacific Ocean.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- With all the talk of a "Fiscal Cliff' and a downward forcast, perhaps it's time to look up!
Last week, I had the opportunity to meet with Frank DiBello, president and CEO of Space Florida, and Dale Ketcham, director of Spaceport Research & Tecnology Institute at the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. Our meeting focused on the possibilities of bringing a commercial launch platform and complex to Volusia County.
Possibilities abound for Volusia County and the entire Space Coast with Space Florida's vision for commercial space flight.
Couple that with private entrepreneurs such as Elon Musk (founder of PayPal) who's aerospace firm, SpaceX, is the first private company to successfully launch a spacecraft in 2010. And recently, it was Musk's spacecraft, the Dragon, that successfully connected with the International Space Station.
Private space flight is a proven job creator for the primary and secondary markets. An aerospace launch platform and complex in South East Volusia with its related processing facilities, manufacturing and refurbishing plants has the potential of bringing hundreds of jobs to our area.
Private space flight is a proven job creator for the primary and secondary markets. An aerospace launch platform and complex in South East Volusia with its related processing facilities, manufacturing and refurbishing plants has the potential of bringing hundreds of jobs to our area.
This new launch platform will renew our economy, infuse dollars, create jobs, increase property values and launch us into the future of commercial space opportunities!
The launch complex will be built, the question is where? We know these projects will go forward, we just want to make sure that they move forward on Florida's Space Coast and not in Texas, Georgia or California.
So, possibilities abound. Let's look to the orbit and suborbital possibilities right here in Volusia County.
NASA video / The SpaceX Falcon 9 and Dragon capsule lift off May 22, 2012, from Cape Canaveral could be seen along the shoreline of Brevard and Volusia counties.
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