Three years after being formed to bring order out of a mish-mash of space-related state agencies, Space Florida finds itself fighting for its life in the midst of a barrage of criticism, scandal and investigations. From arguments that the agency has produced too few accomplishments after tens of millions of dollars in state funding to an ethics investigation involving a former state official, Space Florida, like its predecessors, is finding its very survival in danger at a critical time for the space industry in Florida.
Created by the Florida legislature in 2006 through the merging of Florida Space Authority and Florida Space Research Institute and the Florida Aerospace Finance Corp., the agency was supposed to streamline the process for space-related companies doing business in the state, attract new businesses to Florida and enhance the state's ability to compete with upstart commercial spaceports in New Mexico, Virginia and a host of other states. Instead, critics say Space Florida has become mired in bureaucracy and politics, spending too much money keeping itself alive while doing comparatively little to help the commercial space industry. Space Florida's troubles haven't gone unnoticed in Tallahassee, where a growing number of legislators are demanding fundamental changes to the agency under the threat of dissolving it altogether. Space Florida's troubles are even more amplified in the current budgetary climate in which the legislature has left no stone unturned for cuts in an attempt to close a multi-billion dollar budget deficit in 2009. This makes Space Florida an attractive target for its detractors who argue that dollars currently allocated for the agency could help close the deficit. Among the scandals afflicting the agency is the space-tourist training program known as Project Odyssey. In 2008, Space Florida arranged a non-competed state-funded $500,000 grant to the Pensacola-based Andrews Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Center to set up a facility to offer training to potential wealthy space tourists. As it turns out, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach offered to establish just such a facility in 2006, but received no support from Space Florida. Critics say the circumstances surrounding the creation of Project Odyssey aren't coincidental. The state of Florida agrees. Governor Charlie Crist ordered his Inspector General Melinda Miguel to investigate the official who arranged the grant with Andrews Orthopedic following a report by the Orlando Sentinel raised serious questions about potential conflicts of interest in the deal. The official, Brice Harris, worked in the Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development. Allegations are that Harris violated ethics law by taking a job with the clinic after the deal with Florida had been approved. The Governor's investigators agreed in a report released in April. They said that Harris, who was instrumental in the creation of the proposal that led to Project Odyssey, violated state law when he took a job with the company after being substantially involved in negotiating a contract with them for the state. Harris' involvement in Project Odyssey extended so far as to include choosing the logos Worse than that, during negotiations for Odyssey, it Harris who was the one who set the Director's $150,000 a year salary. Then he resigned his $70,000 state job to take the position. Harris could face a $10,000 fine and be ordered to pay back money to the state in additional to possible criminal charges. After the investigative report was released, the Florida Attorney General determined that the state could press for a return of any grant money already given to the clinic. Odyssey may not survive the scandal. The Project Odyssey fiasco is far from the only scandal to hit Space Florida. In 2007, space tourism company Zero G, the company started by Peter Diamandis, the founder of the X Prize Foundation, signed two contracts with Space Florida worth a total of $1 million. The goal was to set up a Microgravity Education and Research Center that would provide workshops, educational material and microgravity flights to 16,000 teachers and students annually. Amid much fanfare, the project took off with a much-publicized zero-gravity flight by noted physicist Stephen Hawking and the promise of thousands of teachers and student taking similar flights in the years to come. In the end, the program flew just 92 teachers for the $1 million invested by the state. Space Florida is accused of not living up to its obligations to implement the plan created by Zero G. Its critics say the agency lacked the staff and expertise necessary to satisfy its end of the deal. Instead, Space Florida insisted on changes to the agreement with Zero G that would narrow the scope of the project to something the agency could handle. Zero G's contract with Space Florida ended and the last flight took off in February, leaving the company with more than a hint of bitterness and another black mark on Space Florida's record. Despite good intentions, the state's space agency lacked the ability to fulfill an ambitious collaboration with one of the hallmark entrepreneurial space-related companies. Even Space Florida's keystone initiative, leasing and refurbishing Space Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, has attracted criticism by those who see it as unnecessary or overly complicated. Being a multi-use facility, it will have a key feature in its ability to host a variety of launch vehicle configurations. Supposedly an advantage, the capability has had the opposite effect of making potential users leery of its suitability for specific vehicles. Space Florida negotiated a lease with the Air Force for use of SLC-36, the former Atlas-Centaur launch complex, which it intends to redevelop at a cost of $55 million. Last year, the legislature authorized $14.5 million to begin the work with completion targeted for 2010. Already, over $2 million has been spent, but, under allegations that Space Florida has failed to complete a master plan for the launch facility, auditors recommended to the state that the remaining funds for its development be frozen. Mike Fasano (R - New Port Richey), Chairman of the Senate Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations Committee, also threatened a suspension of state funding until the master plan is completed. In return, Space Florida President Steve Kohler assured the committee that the plan would be finished by the end of the year. In the interim, the launch complex faces an uncertain future which is destined to make it even more difficult for Space Florida to market the facility which has yet to attract a single company to launch from the historic complex. In March, Fasano backed away from the political rhetoric, saying that Space Florida understood the threat of the loss of funding was real and that it's working to satisfy the legislature. However, the incident underscores the precarious position of Space Florida and its grand plans. The agency still has to complete the master plan and there aren't any companies publicly willing to commit to using the complex. It's not as though Space Florida isn't trying to attract new businesses. At the time of writing, a proposal to provide tax rebates to companies willing to launch from the new facility. Senate Bill 1526 would give companies a tax credit to offset costs associated with launching from Cape Canaveral and would benefit companies whether or not they make money on the launch. Companies would get a tax break on half of the income tax liability from launches or sell the credit to other companies if they post a loss. As reported in our News Briefs, although the bill passed a vote in the Senate Commerce Committee, it's unlikely to make it through the full legislature before the current session ends May 1. Another initiative supported by the space community, $3 million in funding for workforce training has attracted little support in a legislature looking for ways to save, not spend, money this year. However, not everything has been bad news for Space Florida. In April, the legislature passed HB 69, which establishes the Space Transportation Research and Development Institute under the direction of Embry-Riddle. The bill's passage is sort of a mixed blessing for Space Florida. The legislature left the question of funding unresolved since the legislation specifies that no money or state staff will be used in 2009 to fund it. Originally, its backers had wanted $500,000 to cover startup costs, but now the money will have to be found elsewhere, presumably by Embry-Riddle. Space Florida's troubles couldn't have come at a worse time for the state's space industry. NASA estimates that at least 3,500 jobs will be lost at Kennedy Space Center following the retirement of the space shuttle next year. Making matters worse, the state could face the loss of between 9,000 and 30,000 jobs indirectly related to the space industry. Those jobs would cut across industries and include, for example, the restaurants that serve space center workers and hotels around the center that rely on tourists visiting during shuttle launches for up to 85% of their annual income. It's essential that Florida attract more private companies such as Space Exploration Technologies Corp. to mitigate the economic impact of the shuttle's retirement. For thirty years, the economy of the space industry in Florida, especially the Space Coast, has been deeply rooted in the shuttle program. Now is the time to build an industrial base for the post-shuttle era if the state wants to avoid the local economic depression that followed the cancellation of the Apollo program. Space Florida is the state agency tasked with taking the lead in efforts to save Florida's space industry, and the jobs of thousands of people who rely on it. The question facing state lawmakers is simple. Is Space Florida in a position to take the reigns and guide the state through these uncertain times? The answer to that question isn't so straightforward. The problems and scandals surrounding the agency have had the collateral effect of seriously damaging sympathy for the industry's plight in the legislature and leave the state, in some cases, spinning its wheels trying to make progress on its projects. One thing is certain, the shuttle is going to be retired and the state needs to have the vehicles in place to mitigate the impact or life on the Space Coast is going to be far more difficult than it is now even in the current recessionary environment. (The Spacearium / Space Media Corporation)
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