Florida Leverages Advantages in Biotech to Prepare for Space Shuttle’s Demise

The end of the space shuttle program in 2010 has many state and local governments uncertain about the future of the aerospace industry. A recent NASA report estimated that as many as 10,000 contractor jobs could be lost at spaceflight centers across the country by the time the program ceases operation. Florida's John F. Kennedy Space Center would be the hardest hit, with as many as 80 percent of its current workforce lost in the next 2-3 years. To prepare for that loss, the state has begun a campaign to reorient its aerospace industry by supporting companies focused on the next generation of spaceflight technologies. This will include leveraging Florida's significant presence in life sciences research to support the development of technologies that will be particularly vital with the rise of private, manned space launches and space tourism.
 
Last week, Florida Governor Charlie Crist announced a new partnership between the state and SPACEHAB Inc., a leading provider of commercial space services such as satellite launch processing and the design of modules that improve living conditions on spacecraft. SPACEHAB will collaborate with the state to support a new space-based, biotech corridor anchored at the Space Life Science Laboratory at Kennedy Space Center. The first priority of the new corridor will be to develop a space-based infectious disease model to help ensure the health and safety of space travelers.
 
Space Florida, a special district created by the state legislature in 2006 to promote the state's aerospace industry, will provide capital investment to support the new initiative and will give companies access to research facilities at the Space Life Science Lab. The agency also will help companies enter the aerospace/biotech market by facilitating partnerships with other companies and government agencies and other types of business assistance. SPACEHAB has active agreements in place with many international space organizations, such as the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, which Florida hopes to use to provide markets for these new companies and increase the state's profile as a global aerospace and biotech leader.
 
This latest effort will leverage Florida's substantial investment in the life sciences sector over the past few years. In addition to high-profile recruitment of the Scripps Research Institute, the Max Planck Institute of Bioimaging, the Torrey Pines Institute for Medical Studies, and the creation of the Miami Institute for Human Genomics, the state has also been increasing its investment in life science research at its universities. In 2007, the University of Florida received a record $583 million in research funding, including a 92 percent increase in state funding. Much of this new funding was directed to the university's Health Science Center, which has helped to expand the state's life science research presence into the central and northern areas of the state.
 
The new aerospace/biotech initiative also will complement Space Florida's ongoing effort to attract private aerospace companies to the state. Earlier this month, Governor Crist announced that the agency was aggressively pursuing more than 50 space-related firms for the state's commercial space market, particularly the Space Coast. Though many of these companies develop technologies for space launch and vehicle design, the agency is now targeting companies involved in space-related services, products and technologies for improving living conditions in space.
 
Find out more about these initiatives at: http://www.SpaceFlorida.gov