In their letter the Senators stated, “[Spaceport Camden] is important to the economic future of coastal Georgia and represents an excellent opportunity to augment America’s space launch capability,” and go on to note that “Spaceport Camden will advance a key tenet of the National Space Strategy by providing additional launch capacity for the commercial launch industry.”
The support of Senators Isakson and Perdue comes at a particularly important time for Camden County as the FAA receives comment on the draft Environmental Impact Statement for Spaceport Camden and county officials prepare to file their formal application for a Launch Site Operator’s License. County Administrator and Spaceport Camden Project Lead, Steve Howard stated, “elected officials at every level of government in Georgia have signaled their support for Spaceport Camden, but the addition of our two Senators is particularly important. The Trump Administration, the National Space Council, and Congress are working to modernize our commercial space regulations and that effort includes providing more launch capacity in the United States and streamlining the application process to maintain our lead in the commercial space race.”
The Senators echoed these sentiments, noting Spaceport Camden “allows orbital launches to take advantage of Earth’s rotational velocity and avoid overflight of politically sensitive areas,” and encouraged FAA “to avoid any unnecessary procedural delays” in evaluating Camden County’s application.
To learn more about the Spaceport Camden Draft EIS, visit the FAA at: https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/environmental/nepa_docs/review/documents_progress/camden_spaceport/. Comments on the Spaceport Camden Draft EIS are due June 14, 2018, and may be sent to faacamdenspaceporteis@leidos.com. Camden County officials anticipate submitting their formal application for a Launch Site operator’s license in 2018.