CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In 50 years, Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station may have landing strips for rocket planes going to the International Space Station, rockets launching every 36 hours, hotels near the Visitor Complex and even space tourists flying out of Brevard County.
On Wednesday, space officials unveiled their land-use plan for Florida's spaceport, which encompasses the space center and the Air Force Station, for the next 50 years.
By 2075, the plan says it is possible for 251 spacecraft to launch from the spaceport annually. Currently, only about 21 launchers lift off every year.
"It looks like I'm smoking something or doing something to come up with launch rates like that," Kennedy Space Center Director Roy Bridges said.
Bridges said this was just a plan. The launch market, government's demand and available technology would drive what actually happens.
U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Florida, said 50 years from now, the actual map might look a bit different from the map in the plan.
In the past, the Cape experienced launch pad sprawl. The decision-makers would just build a new pad wherever they had room along the coast, said Florida Space Authority's Director of Planning and Customer Support Keith Witt.
Plan now, he said, they want to develop responsibly. The plan will cluster launch areas in one area, research in another, education and outreach in another and administration offices in another. The plan would move Kennedy Space Center management and Air Force administration near each other. The plan also caters to tourists. It projects that between 8.1 million and 11.3 million tourists could visit the Space Coast annually by 2050. They allotted space near an expanded Visitor Complex for hotels and conference centers to be built. Also, the plan suggests moving the Air Force Space Museum from its home on the military side to land adjacent to the NASA Visitor Complex.
If spaceflight costs decrease with more frequent launches, it might be affordable for space tourists. Right now, it costs between $4,000 and $10,000 to launch a pound of payload into space. The price would need to get down to $30 per pound to make space tourism viable, said Matt Taylor of ZHA Consulting in Orlando.
Bridges and others hope to have more room on site for technology development that could eventually enable high launch rates.
"I'm excited to see the red on this chart for the research facilities," said U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, pointing to the land-use map behind him.
The Space Experiment Research and Processing Laboratory is being built along State Road 3. Florida Space Authority is helping draw up rules for how the 400 acres will be used for the International Space Research Park.
A projected increase in the number of launches also would mean more people working in the area and heavier traffic on the spaceport roads, so many roads on the bases may be widened to accommodate more vehicles.
Seven federal, state and local agencies worked on the plan.
"We realized to a certain extent we would share a common destiny," Bridges said.
But getting budget approval from many different agencies for a similar plan may be difficult, said Florida Space Authority Executive Director Ed Gormel.
The plan, two years in the making, calls for expansion in three areas over three different phases.
One area is anchored by the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, the future research park and administrative offices.
Another lies in the Cape Canaveral industrial area. The plan recommends moving Air Force offices to the NASA side and consolidating launch operations.
The third area for development lies at the southern end of the Air Force station, which includes the Naval Ordnance Test Unit. The plan recommends a new area for naval launch support.
All of the leaders voiced concern about continuing their jobs as stewards of the environment since the spaceport also houses the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.
"Taking care of the environment will be our top priority," said Brig. Gen. Greg Pavlovich, commander of the 45th Space Wing, which includes Patrick Air Force Base and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Currently, the spaceport has 147,980 acres devoted to conservation out of 157,392 acres total. According to the plan, the projected area could decrease to 143,049 acres. Unused citrus groves could be turned into sites for new buildings or return to conservation land.
Overall, the leaders said the plan was important to stay competitive in a global launch market. No other launch site has a long-term plan like this, Bridges said.
In the near future, Kennedy Space Center could service and launch the replacement shuttle fleet now on NASA's drawing board. Agency officials hope for a first flight from the Space Launch Initiative about 2012.
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station saw two new launch facilities built to host Boeing's Delta 4 line and Lockheed Martin's Atlas 5 expendable rockets.
The now defunct X-33 program helped spawn the idea for a plan, Weldon said. The experimental rocket was supposed to lead to a replacement for the shuttle. It got space officials thinking about where they should erect buildings to support a new launcher.
"We have to make sure that this document . . . does not become a doorstop," Gormel said. "It's our responsibility to reference it, to use it."
Published under license from FLORIDA TODAY. Copyright © 2002 FLORIDA TODAY. No portion of this material may be reproduced in any way without the written consent of FLORIDA TODAY.
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