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In the Face of Tragedy
What are Space Coast companies doing to stave off tough economic times after the Columbia disaster?

By Anne Straub
Brevard Technical Journal

A month after the shuttle Columbia disintegrated during re-entry, observers agree the tragedy's economic impact on Brevard County remains murky. But they point to the area's diversification as protection against a severe downturn.

"East Central Florida is certainly more diversified than after Challenger," said Edward Ellegood, director of policy and program development for the Florida Space Research Institute. The 1986 explosion of the shuttle Challenger shortly after liftoff led to layoffs and a general slowdown throughout Brevard County.

After that accident, NASA grounded the shuttle fleet for nearly two years. The length of time the agency waits before returning to manned flight this time will help determine the economic pain Brevard feels, Ellegood said.

Experts expect a minimum of several months. "Six months would be a lucky break for us," said Ellegood, whose organization works to promote university activity in space research and technology.

Even if the shuttle is grounded for only a short time, the loss of one orbiter might mean a lighter flight schedule than planned.

"NASA had been looking at increasing the shuttle flight rate, at least marginally. I don't know if that's going to be possible now," Ellegood said. That would affect the economy in a variety of ways, including reducing the amount of research flowing through Florida and cutting into launch-related tourism.

There's a lot at stake for Brevard: The space program has an estimated economic impact of $1.36 billion in the county, including wages directly tied to the space program, as well as those generated indirectly. According to the Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast, 4.4 percent of the county's jobs are linked to the shuttle program, and 13.02 percent are linked to some part of the space industry.

The Florida Space Authority is working on a strategic response to the disaster, said Margo Witcher, spokeswoman for the state government space agency. In the meantime, the organization's informal phone calls with companies in the space industry have showed that testing and specialized manufacturers are experiencing some negative impact, but nothing measurable.

"The good news is the international space station is still processing experiments to go into space, and all unmanned programs are still going," Witcher said.

The Brevard economy is better able to absorb the impact of Columbia than of Challenger because of the increase in companies that have a connection to space but aren't dependent on NASA funding, Witcher and Ellegood said.

The space business has become more varied and commercialized. Also, more companies have spun off from space-focused businesses and rely on NASA for only part of their revenue. "Before, all the work down here was closely related to launch activity at the Cape," Ellegood said.

Reliable System Services, a Melbourne engineering services firm, is among those that make shuttle-related work only part of their business. "It may have some impact on some potential future business at NASA simply because everything will be slowed down," RSS President Tony Perez Falcon said of the Columbia tragedy. But the accident doesn't affect any ongoing projects for the company.

RSS and other companies that have started since Challenger in 1986 will help soften the economic blow of Columbia, he said. "There is a lot more diversity, not just in general, but even within the high-tech industry," Perez Falcon said.

His company was just getting started in 1986 and was focusing on Navy business. "In 1986, we were not even a player, and now we have 27 employees," he said. "There are probably 100 companies that weren't around then but are players now. If anyone is affected, someone else can pick up the people."

For Command and Control Technology, the struggle started in November when Kennedy Space Center scrapped plans to replace the space shuttle launch processing system because of budget problems. The Titusville company has laid off nine people since then, adding to what CCT president Pete Simons calls a glut of software engineers in North Brevard.

He expects his company, which specializes in mission critical automation, to feel short-term impact of the Columbia tragedy. Long term, he sees potential for CCT in the orbital space plane and other new technologies. "But we have to get from here to there," Simons said.

To do that, CCT is looking at Defense Department work because that agency appears to be better funded. "Almost all of our marketing is focused on that," he said.

Meanwhile, he fears small businesses are being abandoned by the under-funded space agency.

"They have their heads down in the right area. Obviously, finding out what happened to Columbia is the first priority," Simons said. "But you have to have support around you, and if they're not careful, that support might dry up."