Florida Senate - 2025                            (NP)    SR 1844
       
       
        
       By Senator Wright
       
       
       
       
       
       8-02085-25                                            20251844__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution designating March 11, 2025, as “Space
    3         Day” in Florida.
    4  
    5         WHEREAS, as the birthplace of American space exploration
    6  since the first space launch from its shores more than 75 years
    7  ago, Florida is home to the nation’s space program and has
    8  served as the international portal to remarkable scientific
    9  innovation and imagination and continues to play a critical role
   10  in pioneering new frontiers, as well as leading in the discovery
   11  of viable pathways further into space, and
   12         WHEREAS, with its three spaceports, Florida is the world’s
   13  gateway to space and is the epicenter of aerospace innovation,
   14  logistics, opportunity, and economic growth, and
   15         WHEREAS, more than 141,000 residents work in Florida’s
   16  aviation and aerospace industries, including rocket scientists,
   17  machinists, pilots, specialists, and engineers, and
   18         WHEREAS, the number of space launches in Florida has
   19  tripled from 31 in 2020 to 93 in 2024, representing a record 36
   20  percent of global launch activity, and, in 2025, more than 140
   21  space launches are expected, and
   22         WHEREAS, as the nation witnesses the rapid growth and
   23  expansion of its commercial space transportation industry, over
   24  the next decade, Florida has the opportunity to broaden its
   25  leadership position in civil and military launch activity, while
   26  also emerging as the nation’s leader in commercial space
   27  opportunities and the integration of space, aeronautics, and
   28  aviation technologies, including hypersonic technologies, a
   29  vision that, if realized, will position Florida for sustained
   30  economic growth and prosperity for decades to come, and
   31         WHEREAS, Florida’s top-tier universities prepare future
   32  leaders and engineers for the aerospace and defense ecosystem,
   33  cultivating a world-class workforce for these highly technical
   34  fields, sending more than 4,800 engineering graduates into the
   35  workforce annually, and
   36         WHEREAS, with robust military installations that include
   37  Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, and Coast
   38  Guard bases, Florida’s aviation and aerospace industries play a
   39  key role in national defense, flight training, and research, and
   40  it is the only state with three distinct combatant commands
   41  supporting national security missions across the globe, NOW,
   42  THEREFORE,
   43  
   44  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   45  
   46         That March 11, 2025, is designated as “Space Day” in
   47  Florida.