NASA has applied for a federal wetlands permit that will allow them to put to use a shuttle landing facility at the Kennedy Space Center.
The permit would allow the space agency to clean out and fill 40 acres of wetlands connected to the Indian River to make room for commercial spacecraft launches, according to Florida Today.
Aerospace development agency Space Florida is looking to use the strip to build a new infrastructure for future spaceflight projects, such as Stratolaunch Systems, which was planned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, and XCOR Aerospace.
"Space Florida can help finance the infrastructure to run power and utilities and stormwater a long distance out there to accommodate future growth," said Dale Ketcham, director of strategic alliances for Space Florida.
The area in question is located on the east side of the shuttle landing facility runway within the Kennedy Space Center. The section is three miles long, and is one of the longest landing strips in the world. NASA officials said the landing facility is one of the most underutilized properties in its inventory, WFTV reported.
NASA must give Space Florida control of the facility before it can be used for any projects.
"NASA is anxious to have its underutilized and unutilized facilities from the previous shuttle program put to better use," Ketcham said.
For the project, about 36 acres of wetlands and 5 acres of surface waters would be filled for the development of two future tenant sites with aircraft aprons, taxiways, aircraft hangers, utilities, parking, stormwater ponds and roadways, Florida Today reported.
"We're going to be negotiating with NASA for quite some time," Ketcham said.
Ketcham added that he believes the process will start in a few weeks. Officials said in the short term, Space Florida could use unmanned aerial systems and drones to generate income for the landing facility's operations and maintenance, WFTV reported.
"We're going to get there," Ketcham said. "It's in both of our interest to get there. But we have a lot of ground to cover."
