FAA Gives Favorable Ruling on Spaceport Camden

Dec. 21—Camden County officials are declaring "mission accomplished" after the Federal Aviation Administration's decision Monday to grant a favorable Record of Decision for Spaceport Camden.

Camden County Administrator Steve Howard said the county has regained the moniker it earned as the "gateway to space" in the 1960s when the site was used to test rocket engines for the space program.

"This once-in-a-generation opportunity will provide a new frontier of economic prosperity for Camden, the region and the state of Georgia," Howard said. " Georgia is part of the new space race, and we will become one of the leaders."

Spaceport Camden becomes the nation's 13th licensed spaceport but only the third vertical lift facility.

"It has been a long time coming, but Camden County is immensely proud of this accomplishment," said Camden County Commission Chairman Gary Blount. "With this license, Spaceport Camden offers coastal Georgia over 100 miles of opportunity. We are no longer a one-dimensional economy solely reliant on the brave sailors and contractors at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay for economic prosperity."

County officials believe Spaceport Camden is in an ideal location to meeting the growing demand from the commercial space industry. The industry, currently a $447 billion a year industry, is expected to grow to $3 trillion by 2047.

"Opportunity — that is what Spaceport Camden's LSOL is providing Camden County," said U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-1. "Our already world-class economy is now diversifying in a way that will catapult Georgia into the 21st century and beyond.

"I am immensely proud of Spaceport Camden for their hard work and innovation that made this possible. With this announcement, Georgia's First District has solidified itself as a global leader."

George Nield, former head of the Office of Commercial Space Transportation and chair of the Global Spaceport Alliance, expressed support for the decision.

"Having served as the associate administrator for Commercial Space Transportation at the FAA when this proposal was first presented to the agency, I have been impressed with Camden County's perseverance in shepherding the project through the regulatory process," Nield said. "Spaceport Camden will provide much needed additional vertical launch capacity on the East Coast and help to encourage both aerospace investment and an increased focus on STEM education in Southeast Georgia."

Launch providers seeking to utilize Spaceport Camden will still need to have their individual vehicles approved by the FAA to launch from the site — a standard requirement under the agency's rules. All launch vehicles must be individually licensed at every spaceport they intend to launch from.

While Camden officials celebrated the decision, opponents expressed concerns about the cost and potential environmental impacts.

"It's a travesty that will continue wasting millions of Camden taxpayer dollars," said Steve Weinkle, a longtime critic of the spaceport."

Weinkle said the record of decision should not influence Camden County Superior Court from granting a temporary restraining order to purchase the site owned by Union Carbide where launches would be conducted. Opponents are asking for a hearing to block the purchase before the scheduled Jan. 13 closing date for the county to buy the Union Carbide property.

If opponents are successful in convincing a judge to issue a restraining order and the signatures on a petition are certified, a special election will be held within 90 days to let the voters decide if commissioners should be allowed to purchase the property. Other opponents have expressed concerns and fear about a rocket potentially malfunctioning and causing a crash on Little Cumberland or Cumberland islands, or in the environmentally sensitive saltwater marshes.

Brian Gist, senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, said the FAA's decision will receive much scrutiny.

"Virtually from the start, the FAA's review of Spaceport Camden has been fraught with factual mistakes and legal errors," Gist said. "We will carefully review the FAA's decision to ensure that it fully complies with all applicable laws."

___

Visit The Brunswick News (Brunswick, Ga.) at www.thebrunswicknews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.