Florida Senate - 2009                                     SB 888
       
       
       
       By Senator Lynn
       
       
       
       
       7-01022-09                                             2009888__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the space industry; providing a
    3         short title; providing legislative findings; amending
    4         s. 331.3051, F.S.; revising duties of Space Florida to
    5         include supporting the development and operation of
    6         the Space Transportation Research and Development
    7         Institute; creating s. 331.365, F.S.; establishing the
    8         multiuniversity Space Transportation Research and
    9         Development Institute within the Office of Tourism,
   10         Trade, and Economic Development; providing for duties
   11         and 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 “Space
   16  Transportation Research and Development Institute Act.”
   17         Section 2. Legislative findings.—The Legislature finds and
   18  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 while its space launch industry suffers
   24  from outdated technologies and increased international and
   25  domestic competition. The Legislature finds that the state
   26  should expand statewide involvement in space research and
   27  technology development programs that will leverage and improve
   28  the state's space transportation industry through
   29  multiuniversity partnerships with industry, the Federal Aviation
   30  Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space
   31  Administration, and the Department of Defense.
   32         Section 3. Paragraph (c) is added to subsection (8) of
   33  section 331.3051, Florida Statutes, to read:
   34         331.3051 Duties of Space Florida.—Space Florida shall:
   35         (8) Carry out its responsibility for research and
   36  development by:
   37         (c) Supporting the development and operation of the Space
   38  Transportation Research and Development Institute. Such support
   39  may include, but not be limited to:
   40         1. Providing the institute with advisory support for
   41  defining the focus and scope of multiuniversity projects.
   42         2. Providing the institute with access to the Cape
   43  Canaveral Spaceport and other spaceport sites in the state,
   44  including launch, laboratory, and processing facilities for
   45  research and program management.
   46         3. Providing the institute with support for the development
   47  of the institute among relevant agencies and policymakers in
   48  Washington, D.C., and Tallahassee.
   49         4. Engaging the institute as a partner in support of space
   50  policy, range and spaceport technology development, and other
   51  space transportation technology programs.
   52         5. Providing support to institute projects through the
   53  Florida-NASA Matching Grant Program as provided in subsection
   54  (10).
   55         Section 4. Section 331.365, Florida Statutes, is created to
   56  read:
   57         331.365 Office of Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development;
   58  Space Transportation Research and Development Institute.—
   59         (1) There is established within the Office of Tourism,
   60  Trade, and Economic Development a multiuniversity Space
   61  Transportation Research and Development Institute. The institute
   62  shall be a university-led program to perform high-impact space
   63  transportation research and technology development activities
   64  and provide policy analysis that will advance state and federal
   65  interests in improving the competitiveness of the space
   66  transportation industry. The institute shall be led by Embry
   67  Riddle Aeronautical University and shall include other public
   68  and private universities in the state and outside the state. The
   69  institute shall support research focus areas including, but not
   70  limited to, spaceport licensing and safety; range and airspace
   71  management systems development, simulation, and qualification;
   72  spaceflight human factors issues; spaceflight passenger, crew,
   73  and technician training and certification; launch vehicle safety
   74  analysis; materials science for spaceflight; spaceport
   75  instrumentation, technologies, and processes; and other topics
   76  of interest to the Federal Aviation Administration, other
   77  federal agencies, state space transportation authorities, and
   78  industry.
   79         (2) The institute shall be established in phases, with the
   80  initial phase focused on developing a management structure,
   81  establishing a formal relationship with the Federal Aviation
   82  Administration, and forming partnerships with academic
   83  institutions and industry.
   84         Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.