NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and Space Florida are one giant step closer in their efforts to attract high tech companies and jobs to Brevard County, with the ground breaking of the new Exploration Park last Friday at the Space Life Sciences Laboratory (SLSL), at the Center. The SLSL will be the anchor facility for Exploration Park, which is expected to open its first facility in early 2012.
“Today’s groundbreaking is a tremendous milestone in the transformation of Florida’s $8 billion-a-year space industry and will enable the Sunshine State to tap into a greater share of the $250-billion global space marketplace,” said Gov. Charlie Crist.
Bob Cabana, Kennedy Center Director, said he was pleased to be able to break ground on this venture, which he believes will play a very key role in helping Kennedy take advantage of new opportunities emerging from the transition that has begun.
“Exploration Park will help facilitate the center’s future state, where we are the world’s premiere spaceport, supporting a diversity of space transportation services and home to world-leading research and technology in space and space-related fields,” Cabana said. “It’s my hope that this partnership will showcase the tremendous talent that we have to offer and the opportunities for growth and development that are available to commercial companies and academia.”
Exploration Park will be located outside Kennedy’s security gate, adjacent to the SLSL, for servicing diverse tenants and uses that will engage in activities to support the space and space-related activities of NASA, other government agencies, the U.S. commercial space industry, and attract new aerospace jobs to the Space Coast.
Cabana said it is a strategically located complex that will allow the SLSL to realize its full potential. Phase 1 is currently expected to include eight new buildings totaling 315,000 sq. ft. Space Florida signed a 60-year lease with NASA to develop 60 acres of usable space on Kennedy property for the park.
Exploration Park, a unique public-private partnership, is expected to play a critical role in retaining and attracting new jobs on Florida’s Space Coast.
