Scott Powers
Donald Trump is coming to Kennedy Space Center and the Space Coast Monday to tour facilities and discuss space policy.
The key event will be a meeting with the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast, where area space industry leaders will probe his ideas on space and how that fits in with the Space Coast’s future.
There are no public events announced, and there may not be any. A spokeswoman for the Space Coast EDC said all details are yet to be worked out.
This visit will be part of the Space Coast EDC’s running series of meetings with political candidates to hash through space policy. This year the group has met with both U.S. Senate candidates in Florida, Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and Democratic U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, as well as a number of state legislative candidates.
“This is something we’ve been doing for many years, inviting candidates, speaking about the issues of space policy,” said Space Coast EDC spokeswoman Claudia Devitt. “We have reached out to both campaigns. Trump has accepted and we’re hoping to hear from the [Hillary] Clinton campaign.”
In 2012, Republican Newt Gingrich met with the EDC and then used the occasion to make his infamous “moon base” speech, shortly before the Florida primary. That year’s Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, also came to speak space policy on the Space Coast but did not meet with the EDC.
