Florida's More Business-Focussed Space Age
Melbourne, Fla.—We all have watched or heard about more astronauts going on missions to the Space Station and outer space. Both NASA and Space X keep working hard on the prospect to return to the moon. NASA selected a Starship variant as the vehicle that will officially transport Artemis program astronauts from lunar orbit down to the surface – a $2.9 billion contract that's being hotly debated in Washington, D.C., and contested by rival Blue Origin.
The fabric of our Florida Space Coast business community is just emerging. Companies like Space X and Blue Origin alone, represent just a fraction of the thousands of space related businesses that will play an important role in the future of spaceflight.
Space X, for example, has been developing a massive new vehicle, called Starship, which is made up of a Super Heavy booster, added to the upper stage transport ship. The vehicle itself is impressive, standing almost 400 feet in height, which makes it taller than the Saturn V rocket utilized during the Apollo era. Starship has already flown several test missions in Texas, and its company, Space X, aims to flying it from both Texas and Florida.
Fortunately there is plenty of room in Florida’s Space Coast for Space X, and the established Falcon 9 rocket can still fly from both Florida or Vandenberg Space Coast in California.
By the same token, Blue Origin, a Jeff Bezos company, also leads the National Team, a partnership of four companies developing a version of the landing system that will transport NASA astronauts to the moon's surface. The company is currently renovating Launch Complex 16, a pad built in the late 1950s for ballistic missile tests. It also wants to launch from Vandenberg like SpaceX, but Florida is the current priority.
United Launch Alliance is a joint venture between the well known Boeing and Lockheed Martin currently in charge of Atlas V, and Delta IV Heavy. ULA will be retiring its entire fleet to make room for Vulcan Centaur, a new vehicle with medium-to-heavy lift capabilities. Vulcan is now targeting 2022 for its premiere at Launch Complex 41, near Cape Canaveral.
Firefly Aerospace continues to work hard in building launch vehicles, as well as coast-to-coast launch pads.—This company was also selected by NASA to produce a moon lander for the Artemis program that will take several scientific payloads to the surface. That project alone was valued at $93.3 million. Firefly leadership officially took ownership of Launch Complex 20 at Cape Canaveral after entering into a lease agreement with the Space Force.
No other state rivals Florida’s history in the aerospace industry, and it is uniquely positioned to continue to be a leader in the field for some time being home to two of the ten active spaceports in the United States: Cape Canaveral Spaceport and the Cecil Field Spaceport. Eight of the 24 licenses permitting private firms to send rockets into space are authorized from sites in Florida, further cementing its place as a leader in aerospace travel.
Growing along with the Space Industry is the Trucking Industry, which according to 2021 projections represents the highest GDP in the world – The United States currently stands at the number one spot when it comes to GDP from the trucking industry. The GDP of this industry is higher than that of 150 nations in the entire world. It is the preferred form of transportation with almost 70% of the country’s goods being carried around by trucks from one state to the other.
At Melbourne Truck Insurance, we understand the many challenges you and your company needs to deal with on a daily basis. Truck and commercial vehicle insurance should not be one of them.
Contact one of our local commercial/truck insurance agents to find out what options are available for your trucking and transportation business in the Palm Bay area, and help you start saving on the protections needed to keep it always afloat. Melbourne Truck Insurance has the products and underwriting experience that meet the insurance needs of your business.
Give us a call for a FREE consultation (321) 329-5556, at Melbourne Truck Insurance.
HECTOR PEREZ
PRODUCER
Hector is a licensed insurance agent with vast experience as a Transportation Specialist.
Bilingual:
English | Spanish