| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to the space industry; providing a short |
| 3 | title; providing legislative findings; amending s. |
| 4 | 331.3051, F.S.; revising duties of Space Florida to |
| 5 | include supporting the development and operation of the |
| 6 | Space Technology and Research Diversification Initiative; |
| 7 | creating s. 331.365, F.S.; establishing the |
| 8 | multiuniversity Space Technology and Research |
| 9 | Diversification Initiative within the Office of Tourism, |
| 10 | Trade, and Economic Development; providing for duties and |
| 11 | administration; providing an effective date. |
| 12 |
|
| 13 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 14 |
|
| 15 | Section 1. Short title.--This act may be cited as the |
| 16 | "Space Technology Research and Diversification Initiative Act." |
| 17 | Section 2. Legislative findings.--The Legislature finds |
| 18 | and declares that the anticipated impacts of the National |
| 19 | Aeronautics and Space Administration's retirement of the Space |
| 20 | Shuttle program reveal an underlying lack of diversification in |
| 21 | Florida's space industry. Florida lags significantly behind |
| 22 | other states in high-value, space-related research and |
| 23 | technology development, resulting in an economic reliance on |
| 24 | launch-related programs. The Legislature finds that the state |
| 25 | should expand statewide involvement in space research and |
| 26 | technology development programs involving multiple universities, |
| 27 | industry, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and |
| 28 | the military. |
| 29 | Section 3. Paragraph (c) is added to subsection (8) of |
| 30 | section 331.3051, Florida Statutes, to read: |
| 31 | 331.3051 Duties of Space Florida.--Space Florida shall: |
| 32 | (8) Carry out its responsibility for research and |
| 33 | development by: |
| 34 | (c) Supporting the development and operation of the Space |
| 35 | Technology and Research Diversification Initiative. Such support |
| 36 | shall include, but not be limited to: |
| 37 | 1. Advisory support for defining the focus and scope of |
| 38 | multiuniversity projects. |
| 39 | 2. Access to the Cape Canaveral Spaceport and facilities, |
| 40 | including, but not limited to, the Space Life Sciences |
| 41 | Laboratory for research and program management. |
| 42 | 3. Grant funding for projects that support the state's |
| 43 | objectives for space industry expansion and diversification. |
| 44 | Section 4. Section 331.365, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 45 | to read: |
| 46 | 331.365 Office of Tourism, Trade, and Economic |
| 47 | Development; Space Technology and Research Diversification |
| 48 | Initiative.-- |
| 49 | (1) There is established within the Office of Tourism, |
| 50 | Trade, and Economic Development a multiuniversity Space |
| 51 | Technology and Research Diversification Initiative. The |
| 52 | initiative shall be a university-led program to develop high- |
| 53 | impact space research and applied technology programs that will |
| 54 | advance the state's interests in space industry expansion and |
| 55 | diversification. The initiative research shall be led by a |
| 56 | consortium of universities with a main campus located in |
| 57 | Brevard, Volusia, or Orange County and shall include, but not be |
| 58 | limited to, the following focus areas: |
| 59 | (a) Research into spaceflight biomedical countermeasures |
| 60 | to address problems associated with sustained human spaceflight |
| 61 | and exploration and human factors research for commercial human |
| 62 | spaceflight. |
| 63 | (b) Research, technology, policy, and engineering support |
| 64 | for new government and commercial space transportation programs |
| 65 | and microgravity research as part of the Hawking Center program. |
| 66 | (c) Research and development for spaceport and range |
| 67 | technologies and commercialization, including Earth, Moon, and |
| 68 | Mars spaceport technologies that are priorities for the National |
| 69 | Aeronautics and Space Administration and matching support for |
| 70 | the Florida-NASA Matching Grant Program. |
| 71 | (d) Research and development for space and upper |
| 72 | atmospheric science, including, but not limited to, a statewide |
| 73 | undergraduate-oriented, microsatellite and space |
| 74 | instrument/experiment design program, and space-based computing |
| 75 | technologies. |
| 76 | (e) The recruitment of out-of-state, world-class space |
| 77 | researchers to Florida universities. |
| 78 | (2) The initiative shall be centrally administered at the |
| 79 | Space Life Sciences Laboratory with advisory and other support |
| 80 | provided by Space Florida. The administering partners shall make |
| 81 | a best effort to maximize matching investments from industry, |
| 82 | the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the United |
| 83 | States Department of Defense, and other organizations. |
| 84 | Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2008. |