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FAA Spaceport Grants Support America’s Commercial Space Industry

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ray LaHood, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation announced today on his blog Fast Lane that the Federal Aviation Administration is awarding grants to projects at three spaceports.

In an article titled “FAA Spaceport Grants Will Strengthen America’s Commercial Space Industry”, he writes:

“If you’re like me, you probably watched the final landing of the Space Shuttle Atlantis last month with a strong sense of nostalgia for an astounding era in American space travel.  The good news is that the Federal Aviation Administration has been working hard to usher in a new era for U.S. space transportation.

Today, I’m excited to announce that the FAA is awarding grants to projects at three spaceports.  With matching support, these projects will develop and expand our nation’s commercial space transportation infrastructure.  These grants will go a long way toward meeting President Obama’s National Space Policy and its greater emphasis on using the commercial space industry to meet our current and future space transportation needs.

That’s right; although the NASA Shuttle era has drawn to a close, the U.S. already has a commercial space transportation industry that is ready, willing, and able to meet the challenges of providing access to space for science, research, tourism, and other national needs.  This industry is absolutely poised to take American space transportation to the next level.

And, since 1984, the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation has been in charge of regulating and promoting this dynamic sector.  The new matching grants are just the latest example of that support.

The FAA has also issued licenses for more than 200 launches, licensed eight FAA-approved launch sites known as spaceports, and helped ensure that no loss of life or serious injury has been associated with these efforts.

Map of U.S. Spaceports. Click to Enlarge

 
That good work continues with today’s grants to three projects:

• $125,000 to the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport to improve security and remote monitoring;

• $125,000 to the East Kern Airport District’s Mojave Air and Space Port in California for a Supplemental Environmental Assessment; and

• $249,378 to the New Mexico Space Port Authority’s Spaceport America to construct a mobile structure to prepare larger rockets before launch.

I think the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation has a terrific record, and I am confident today’s grants will provide another step in the right direction.  I hope you’ll join me in getting excited about America’s next great era of space travel.”

 
Spaceport America issued a press release stating:

For the second consecutive year, Spaceport America has received a federal grant award to help fund new spaceport infrastructure. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grant is worth $249,378 toward the cost of a roll-back vehicle integration building at Spaceport America

The FAA announced the Space Transportation Infrastructure Matching (STIM) grant award on Friday, August 26. The matching grant program was created to ensure the resiliency of the space transportation infrastructure in the United States, which will rely more heavily on the commercial sector for future space activity, research and exploration.

These matching funds from the FAA are crucial for improving our vertical launch capabilities and expanding services for our launch customers,” said New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) Executive Director, Christine Anderson. The roll-back vehicle integration building will be located inside the Vertical Launch Area (VLA) of Spaceport America and will be able to accommodate the larger vehicles that are under development.

Currently, we can only accommodate vehicles up to approximately 24 feet long and five feet wide,” said Anderson. “New vehicles under development are much longer, and some have wings for gliding recovery,” explained Anderson.  “The new roll-back vehicle integration building will let us handle these new vehicles as they come on line.”

The roll-back vehicle integration building is projected to cost $498,756, of which the FAA grant will pay for half.

Last year, Spaceport America received its first grant from the FAA. On September 10, 2010, the NMSA announced that the FAA would provide a matching grant of $43,000 to help fund an Automated Weather Observation System III (AWOS III). This system provides timely and accurate meteorological information to aircraft and spacecraft operations at Spaceport America, including visibility information and cloud data.

Tags: commercial space, East Kern Airport District, FAA, Federal Aviation Administration, Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, Mojave Air and Space Port, New Mexico Space Port Authority, Orbit, private astronaut, Space, Space Shuttle Atlantis, Space tourism, spacecraft, spaceflight, Spaceport America, suborbit, Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority