Billion-Dollar Tax Break Poised to Fuel Spaceport Development
Days before a SpaceX mission lit up the night sky with the record 94th launch this year from Cape Canaveral, Rob Long sat in a nearby office talking about doubling or even tripling that rate.
Long’s an aerospace engineer and retired Space Force colonel who runs Space Florida, the authority tasked by Florida lawmakers to support the country’s busiest spaceport. The reason for his optimism: a long-sought but little discussed tax break tucked into Congress’ massive tax-and-spending law that could unlock billions in new funding.
The provision means spaceports can use tax-exempt bond proceeds to finance key infrastructure projects, much like municipal authorities do to build airports and highways. One analysis predicted at least $20 billion in new investment over the next decade.
For Space Florida, it creates a potential path to building roads and bridges, improving fuel delivery, increasing wastewater treatment capacity and expanding the oceanfront wharf to collect the remnants of their launches or return vehicles.
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In the ensuing years, the number of spaceports grew, now dotting 10 states. Some are owned by local municipalities or state authorities. Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX built their own spaceports in Texas and boast operations in Florida that tower over the tree lines and dunes. NASA operates the Wallops Island, Va. spaceport, while the US Space Force runs Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-tax-report/billion-dollar-tax-break-poised-to-fuel-spaceport-development