After 9 years and $10M, Georgia spaceport nears FAA approval
A coastal community in southeast Georgia hopes to soon find out whether the federal government will allow it to build a launch site for commercial rockets
June 17, 2021, 7:45 PM
6 min read
Share to FacebookShare to TwitterEmail this articleThis artist's sketch provided by Spaceport Camden shows the Innovation Research Park of the proposed Spaceport Camden in Camden County, Ga. Officials in Camden County have spent nine years and $10 million pursuing a license to operate the 13th licensed, private spaceport in the U.S. The FAA issued a final environmental impact study Thursday, June 17, 2021, and a decision on its license is expected next month. (Spaceport Camden via AP)
SAVANNAH, Ga. -- After nine years of planning and $10 million invested by local taxpayers, county officials in Georgia's coastal southeast corner came a big step closer Thursday to winning federal approval of a project engineered to literally inject the local economy with rocket fuel.
Since 2012, Camden County on the Georgia-Florida line has doggedly pursued plans to build and operate the 13th licensed U.S. commercial rocket launch pad for blasting satellites into orbit. It's been a bumpy ride, with critics concerned that explosive misfires might threaten a protected barrier island popular with campers and possibly a Navy base entrusted with nuclear weapons.
The project came closer to fruition Thursday, when the Federal Aviation Administration issued its final study on Spaceport Camden's environmental impacts. The agency concluded that building the spaceport was its “preferred alternative,” as opposed to scrapping the project. That paves the way for a final decision in July on its license to operate a launch site.
Even if approved, there's no guarantee the project will fire its first rocket anytime soon. Despite increased demand for commercial launches in the past decade, more than half of licensed U.S. spaceports have never held a licensed launch.
Regardless, Steve Howard, Camden County's government administrator, insists the community of 55,000 is seizing a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” not only to join the commercial space race, but to lure supporting industries and tourists.
“For us, it’s never been about the rockets. It’s about everything else," Howard said. “The rockets and the spaceport are a catalyst. What we want is everything else around it: R&D, manufacturing, payload processing, STEM programs, tourism.”
If the Federal Aviation Administration grants Spaceport Camden a license, the county plans to buy 4,000 acres (1,600 hectares) near the coast that during the 1960s was used to manufacture and test rocket motors for NASA.
Camden County would join 19 total U.S. sites available to launch commercial rockets. Five are U.S. government sites such as Cape Canaveral in Florida. Two private sites in Texas were built for the sole use of their owners, SpaceX and Blue Origin.
Camden County would join the remaining dozen, which are essentially launch pads for hire by companies with their own rockets. According to the FAA, seven of those sites — in Florida, Texas, Colorado and Oklahoma — have never held a licensed launch.
“Operators of active spaceports and launch providers expressed concerns that FAA is licensing sites that may never host a launch,” the U.S. Government Accountability Office said in a December report, “although other spaceport operators mentioned that the sites could be suitable for future operations.”
Opponents of Spaceport Camden contend it's in an unsafe location. Its launch path would send rockets over two barrier islands, Cumberland Island and Little Cumberland Island, about 5 miles (8 kilometers) to the east.
Private landowners have more than 40 homes dotting Little Cumberland, though few live there year-round. Cumberland Island is a federally protected wilderness, known for wild horses and nesting sea turtles, that attracts an estimated 60,000 visitors and campers annually.
