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Guest AuthorOctober 5, 2018

This week, we lost a true public servant in state Sen. Dorothy Hukill. Dorothy cared deeply for her constituents, and she leaves behind an impressive legacy of expanding economic and educational opportunities for all Floridians. She was a shrewd and effective legislator who served Brevard and Volusia County families well in the Senate. I had […]

Scott PowersJune 26, 2018

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris King allowed that a new wind of success and hope has breathed new life into Florida’s space industry on the Space Coast in the last few years of Republican Gov. Rick Scott‘s administration. So what’s a Democrat to do? Plenty, King said Monday after touring space industry sites and meeting with […]

Scott PowersMarch 14, 2018

The market for private space launches is heading toward 800 to 1,000 launches a year of satellites and other space hardware; the Florida Spaceport at Cape Canaveral needs to be positioned to host as much of that business as possible, Space Florida President Frank DiBello told his board Wednesday. “We’re not going to be able […]

Scott PowersOctober 30, 2017

Space Florida on Monday gave board approval to state financing and a lease being used to spur three new technology expansions in Florida, including two companies that want to expand satellite component operations in Florida and one that wants to build a magnetic-levitation ground-transportation test track at Kennedy Space Center. Meeting Monday in Orlando, the […]

Scott PowersMarch 10, 2017

With a $17.5 million, third-party loan arranged and approved Friday by Space Florida, OneWeb expects to begin construction of its satellite factory next week outside the gates of Kennedy Space Center. OneWeb already had received approval for a $17.5 million package of state incentives through the Florida Department of Transportation in a deal SpaceFlorida worked out […]

Florence SnyderJanuary 2, 2017

Good on you, Jason Steele, for being the first person in the Space Florida boardroom to talk about the elephant. “We have not had a target on our back, but I promise you, and my crystal ball is very clear, the target will be on our back,” Steele told his fellow Space Florida directors, as […]

Scott PowersNovember 29, 2016

Swiss-owned RUAG Space announced Tuesday it will develop a factory in Titusville to provide component parts for satellites to be created by OneWeb Satellites, which announced its presence on Florida’s Space Coast last spring. RUAG, owned by the Swiss government, is a globally-recognized leader in engineering and manufacturing of components for space vehicles. It is […]

Phil AmmannNovember 22, 2016

New House Speaker Richard Corcoran expects funding requests for Florida’s top jobs agency to move through his chamber’s committees, despite his strong personal objections to taxpayer-financed economic incentives. Matt Dixon of POLITICO Florida reports Gov. Rick Scott is requesting $85 million in incentives for a broad range of business deals to attract businesses to Florida. […]

Scott PowersSeptember 28, 2016

In a deal dubbed “Project Swanson,” Space Florida has agreed Wednesday to front money for $4 million worth of construction and equipment so an undisclosed Canadian company can build a small solid rocket motor fuel manufacturing site in north Brevard County. The company is pledging to create 80 new jobs with an average annual pay […]

Scott PowersAugust 19, 2016

Saying NASA needs long-range political assurances, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio declared broad backing for the space agency’s agenda Friday and called on Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton to do the same. Rubio met Friday with space industry representatives and others in a roundtable discussion organized by the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast and Space […]

Steve Crisafulli: Dorothy Hukill leaves legacy in space and lower taxes

Chris King pledges workforce development for space industry

Space Florida President Frank DiBello forecasting thousands of rocket launches in future years

Space Florida moves forward with spacecraft, mag-lev deals

Space Florida approves loan to get OneWeb factory under construction

Space Florida ‘Steeles’ itself for the winter that’s coming

Swiss company RUAG setting up satellite shop on Space Coast

Despite philosophical differences, Richard Corcoran expects House committees to consider incentive requests

Secret rocket motor fuel company gets Space Florida backing

Marco Rubio declares support for NASA plan, calls on presidential nominees to do same