There are a few ships that use Jacksonville as a departure port, and a few that use it as a port of call. But soon it may be a SPACE port of call.....
Former Jacksonville Navy Base May Become Spaceport
By Associated Press


JACKSONVILLE, FL (AP) -- Cecil Commerce Center, named for a Navy blimp pilot, may soon become a commercial spaceport where civilians would be sent into space. The Florida Space Authority, an economic development agency at Cape Canaveral, will discuss making the former Navy base a spaceport in a Dec. 7 teleconference.



The proposal would also require approval of the Jacksonville Airport Authority, which has controlled the airport portion of the base since Cecil Field Naval Air Station closed in 1999. Under the plan, space craft carrying "space tourists" would piggyback on large planes. The actual engine firings and sonic booms would take place over the ocean, airport authority officials said.



Jacksonville and Titusville, near the Kennedy Space Center, have been considered as locations for a spaceport, but Titusville's infrastructure is much smaller than Cecil Field, according to a study by the Space Authority.



Already a backup landing strip for the space shuttle, Cecil Field's runway is 12,500 feet long and 200 feet wide. Titusville has a 7,320-foot runway, which is 150 feet wide, at the Space Coast Regional Airport.



Consultants say the "ideal spaceport" would have a runway at least 10,000 feet long and 200 feet wide. Most space tourism companies, such as Bert Rutan's SpaceShipOne and Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic, need runways to land.



If it gets approval from the Space Authority, officials would still have to get a license from the Federal Aviation Administration and approval from the Department of Environmental Protection. That process could take several months, said Michael Stewart, a spokesman for the airport authority.



It is not clear who would pay for construction of the spaceport, which would cost between $10.5 million and $28 million. Airport officials said the facility would be used by private business. Plans call for the site to launch tourists into space, but it also could ultimately be used for other businesses, including satellite launches.



"What I don't know is how viable an industry it really is," City Council President Kevin Hyde told The Florida Times-Union.



Space Authority consultants said by the end of the decade, Florida could see dozens of launches per year. They estimate the economic impact to be between $6.3 million and $17.5 million dollars and create between 35 and 115 jobs.



Only five places, including Cape Canaveral, are licensed for commercial spaceports. About five years ago, Homestead Air Force Base, which was destroyed by Hurricane Andrew, was mentioned as a possible spaceport.



Last month, Mayor John Peyton dropped plans to try to convince the Navy to reopen Cecil Field as a jet base. Property owners near the base, on the far west side of Jacksonville, complained that the noise from the jets would ruin their quality of life and hurt their property values.

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