Spaceport Decision Delay Frustrates Everyone

Nov. 4—St. Marys Mayor John Morrissey is very familiar with negotiating with the Federal Aviation Administration for a prolonged period.

He dealt with FAA officials for more than a decade as the city tried to close the St. Marys Airport, which was considered a security threat to nearby Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay.

He described FAA officials as a "by the book" agency that followed the rules exactly.

But even Morrissey said he struggles with the FAA's repeated delays in a final decision about a proposed spaceport in Camden County.

"It's obvious the politics is so strong on so many different lobbying factions," he said.

The most recent date for a Record of Decision, or ROD, was Wednesday, but the new date is now Dec. 15.

Morrissey said he has high expectations an announcement will be made on that date.

"From everybody's perspective, we would welcome a definitive decision from the FAA by Dec. 15," he said. "No matter your opinion, whatever is going on in Washington, obviously it's not an easy decision."

The Record of Decision has been postponed at least seven times since October 2018, said Steve Weinkle, a longtime critic of the project because of the cost and safety concerns.

John Simpson, a Camden County spokesman for the proposed spaceport, said revisions to the Programmatic Agreement, the last document needed for a decision, led to a request by "certain parties who are not required to sign the agreement" for another meeting to review the changes.

"This additional meeting has delayed the release of the ROD and resulted in the FAA pushing back its timetable," Simpson said. "However, we are still optimistic about a favorable decision on Spaceport Camden."

The delays are also adding to the more than $10 million already spent by Camden County to establish the spaceport.

"Time is money. Certainly there are massive opportunity costs in the delays. Camden has missed out on potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in investment," he said.

State Sen. Sheila McNeill, R- Brunswick, said the delays are "unfair to everyone."

"It's very frustrating to everyone involved," she said. "They should have come back long before now with an answer. I hope we get an answer Dec. 15."

Simpson said the site is already well known in the space community and the county has more than a dozen non-disclosure agreements with parties interested in the spaceport.

"We have significant and substantial interest from a variety of organizations, including launch companies, manufacturing companies, testing companies, satellite companies, developers, investors, and builders," he said. "But until the ROD and issuance of the license, we do not have a spaceport to offer them.

"What a favorable ROD and the issuance of the license allows is for the county to move beyond NDAs and Memorandums of Understanding to actual contractual commitments for investments and job creation."

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