Sen. requests funds for space commerce

PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - U.S. Senator Bill Nelson announced on Friday that he has asked for $10 million in the space agency’s 2010 fiscal-year budget for two projects that would bring space commerce to Central Florida.

Nelson said the funds would go directly to benefitting the nation’s space program and facilities at or near Kennedy Space Center.

“It is time to clean house at Space Florida and move ahead and with aggressive schedule for a commercial space industry in Central Florida,” Nelson said.

Nelson has requested $5 million to help convert an old Atlas rocket launch pad into a new launch site for space station supply missions and other commercial space ventures. He is asking for another $5 million for a thermal vacuum facility that he said could stimulate the “harsh rigors of space for servicing and testing satellites and future lunar landers.”