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Posey: Bureaucracy hinders KSC transformation to multi-user spaceport

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Central Florida Congressman Bill Posey says bureaucracy is hindering Kennedy Space Center's transformation into a multi-user spaceport.

His comments are in response to a government report urging KSC to address its shortcomings as competition grows.

The report singles out Shiloh, a KSC property some want to develop into a commercial spaceport. The report says KSC is vague about why it doesn't want to give up the property.

The property is within the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Posey says environmental concerns are unfounded.

"It's hard to imagine that a very small piece of real estate down there, a couple acres out of a 100,000 acres to launch commercial rockets without as much red tape as we have on the rest of the reservation, causing the harm that some people are screaming and hollering about."

A massive transformation is underway at KSC since the shuttle program ended in 2011, to turn the space center into a spaceport for government and commercial launches.

Posey says commercial space companies are deterred by too much government regulation, but KSC is addressing the problems. The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology is expected to meet again after Thanksgiving.

Amy Green covered the environment for WMFE until 2023. Her work included the 2020 podcast DRAINED.