The drive by Kennedy Space Center to operate as a multi-user spaceport instead of a government-dependent launch site is on the cusp of producing a location capable of housing an aerospace company that could manufacture, process, launch and recover its spacecraft without leaving the fence line, said Scott Colloredo, director of Kennedy’s Center Planning and Development directorate.
Speaking during the Innovation Expo at Kennedy, Colloredo noted that the innovation under way at Kennedy is on a grand scale. Three years after the retirement of the space shuttle fleet, Kennedy has a detailed and diverse master plan that has been approved throughout the agency. The innovative aspects of the plan are arrangements that encourage commercial companies or other entities to use Kennedy’s unique resources whether they be facilities or work force or both.
“The master plan allows Kennedy to provide the whole gamut of capabilities companies want in areas where they can grow,” Colloredo said. “The master plan first supports the Space Launch System, Orion, and GSDO, but also allows growth in commercial partnerships beyond our primary missions.”
Kennedy is leading the agency in finding a direction that allows NASA to complete its missions at a time when commercial aerospace industries are gaining what they need to take on more prominent roles according to Janet Petro, Kennedy Space Center’s deputy director.
“Transformation takes innovative ideas,” Petro said. “We can’t go about making partnerships in the same ways of the past. The innovation and innovative ideas are driving our transformation.”
The expo, which took place inside the Mission Briefing Room at the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building, featured numerous center partners including the University of Central Florida, The Boeing Company, Diversified Industries, PaR Systems, Inc. and partners in NASA’s Technology Transfer Program.
Partnerships are seen as vital to bringing the vision of the master plan to life. A number have already been formed recently covering facilities from launch pads to office buildings, processing halls and laboratories. Other partnerships are deep in negotiations such as for the use and operation of the Shuttle Landing Facility.
“The partnerships have made this whole effort a success at the center,” said Tom Engler, deputy director of the Center Planning and Development directorate. “It was seemingly a little slow at the beginning but that was because a lot of companies were laying the groundwork for where they wanted to go. All the partnerships we’ve had have all been innovative one way or another. It’s been a lot of fun watching this all come together.”
The center expects to soon ask industry and potential partners for ways to use some of the land at Kennedy, Colloredo said. Any suggestions will need to be in line with the master plan’s allotment of the center’s 144,000 acres, most of which is a nature preserve.
“Center Planning and Development provides the business development function for Kennedy Space Center, which keeps Kennedy relevant and at the forefront of NASA and commercial spaceflight,” Colloredo said. “We have the assets and pretty soon virtually all the infrastructure formerly used for shuttle support will be partnered with a company or state entity.”
The development effort at Kennedy comes at a time when other states also are envisioning spaceports of their own to attract high-tech companies in emerging industries such as space tourism. A pattern has emerged that shows small companies tend to begin companies in the West where they can build and fly prototype launchers before coming to Kennedy to launch missions into orbit.
“Originally it was more of an uphill battle,” Colloredo said. “Now it seems like partners and potential partners are really on the cusp of coming to Kennedy and there is quite a few of them. Generally what we’re seeing is as they become more of an operational provider, they want to migrate toward Kennedy. So that’s what we’re getting ourselves ready for.”