Return to BTJ Online

International Space Research Park may soon be a reality

By Anne Straub
Brevard Technical Journal

Key work on the International Space Research Park is expected to be complete in the next three months, bringing the planned 400-acre research park at Kennedy Space Center closer to reality.

The project is a collaborative effort between NASA and the state of Florida. It includes the Space Experiment Research and Processing Laboratory, a 100,000-square-foot facility that will serve as the primary processing lab for life sciences experiments headed to the international space station.

Workers are expected to begin moving in to the facility this month, said Margo Witcher, spokeswoman for the Florida Space Authority. Dynamac Corp., which holds the life sciences support contract at the space center, will be the primary tenant. The rest of the space will be used by universities participating in research.

Plans for the park also include an academic building to include classrooms and support research in areas other than life sciences. That project has been deferred, but is picking up steam, with universities helping to determine how much space will be needed, said Edward Ellegood, director of policy and program development for the Florida Space Research Institute.

Three aspects of the park are about 90 percent done, said Tim Franta, director of business development for the Florida Space Authority.

• Environmental impact statement. Franta expects the statement to be passed after one or two hearings this fall. Studies revealed no unexpected issues, he said.
  
  
• Lease agreement. NASA is reviewing the agreement as landlord, an unusual role for the space agency. NASA has privatized services in the past, but the research park represents one of the first times the agency is allowing some of its land to be developed commercially, Franta said.
  
  
• Design regulations. Documents will spell out how tall buildings can be, what codes they'll be built to and how wide they'll be set back. "It will be a world-class facility , so it has to have world-class standards," Franta said.

When that work is done, Franta expects to receive three letters of intent to build in the park. He can't release the names of possible tenants, but Wylie Laboratories already has been reported as expressing interest.

Businesses likely are waiting for final word from NASA on what the Columbia disaster will mean for future shuttle flights, Franta said. "Some people may expand and some people may contract," he said. For example, if NASA decides to implement new testing procedures or quality controls, tenants would bring in that needed piece of equipment.

The Florida Space Authority will start marketing the park aggressively after it has impact statement and lease agreement approval. "For us to have as much interest as we do is impressive," Franta said, noting the authority has done little advertising.

FSA plans to target companies in industries including life sciences, pharmaceuticals, material sciences and space architecture. Well-planned marketing seemed to be the key difference between the successful and unsuccessful research parks that organizers studied: Failed parks were either too specific or too broad in their targeted industries, Franta said.

Construction of new facilities likely would begin no sooner than January. "We want to make sure we don't get the low-hanging fruit," Franta said. "We're here to get new jobs for the state of Florida for the long term."

On the Web: http://researchpark.ksc.nasa.gov