By Ken Storey
Two years ago when the shuttle program shuttered, many feared it would be the end of Florida’s role in space travel. Now two years later, two internet billionaires are fighting over who continues our state's role in it according to Orlando Sentinel.
Elon Musk, co-founder of PayPal who recently unveiled his hyperloop high speed travel idea, has SpaceX, a California-based space travel company that's sent two unmanned capsules to the International Space Station. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, is using his $25 billion net worth to help fund BlueOrigin, a space travel company that's developing a line of reusable launch vehicles.
Each is vying for Launch Complex 39A, the iconic Kennedy Space Center facility home to 82 Space Shuttle launches. Musk’s SpaceX is seeking full exclusive use of the launch complex. He says there would be too much of an anticipated busy launch schedule and too costly to retrofit the complex to accommodate multiple users. SpaceX is also developing a rocket that can launch and land in the same position. It can even hover in mid-air. SpaceX already has two launch pads, including one at Cape Canaveral launch range next to Kennedy Space Center.
Blue Origin is going a bit of a different route with its proposed plan. It would make the launch complex into a multiuser pad allowing several different space travel companies having access to it. While Blue Origin has yet to send a delivery capsule into space, Bezos has shown his commitment to the space industry when he recovered and announced the restoration of Apollo rocket engines from the Atlantic Ocean floor.
NASA has not announced a timeline for the decision, though many expect it to be announced before the start of the federal fiscal year on October 1.