CAMDEN COUNTY, Ga. – A 180-day review process of the Spaceport Camden Launch Site will begin after the Federal Aviation Administration said its initial review of the operator license application was completed.
Spaceport Camden aims to develop a spaceport that will establish Camden County, Georgia, as the Commercial Space Center of the United States.
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The FAA notified Camden County of the news on Monday and added that it anticipates making a license determination on or before Dec. 16, 2019.
The news comes just weeks before the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing and a little more than a month after Spaceport Camden was named a Strategic 50 U.S. infrastructure project.
“We are now at T minus 1,” said Steve Howard, the Spaceport Camden Project lead and a Camden County administrator. “A final decision by the FAA is the only outstanding item."
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said he’s been behind the project from the get-go and that he’s excited for the possibilities it brings to Georgia.
“Camden County is showing what is possible when local leaders come together, think outside of the traditional box and find a way to maximize their community’s greatest assets,” Kemp said. “We encourage the FAA to swiftly approve its launch site operator’s license application.”
Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan said his focus is on education and making the state a national technology hub.
“We are on the cusp of bringing high-tech, high-paying aerospace jobs to costal Georgia and new STEM education opportunities to all our students,” he said.
The site of Spaceport Camden was used in the 1960s to test solid fuel rockets for NASA and was proposed as an alternative launch site for Apollo missions.
Howard said Camden County is one step away from its licensing decision and one giant leap closer to becoming the first purely commercial spaceport on the East Coast.
“In the 20th century, Camden was declared the Gateway to Space,” he said. “If the FAA approves our license, Camden will retain that title again in the 21st century."
Click here to learn more about Spaceport Camden.