NFPA Journal - March/April 2018 - 30

Primed for

LIFT-OFF
YOU ARE A LOCAL FIRE
"IF
MARSHAL OR AUTHORITY

HAVING JURISDICTION
TRYING TO UNDERSTAND AND
FIGURE OUT HOW TO BUILD A
SPACEPORT, HOW TO MAKE IT
SAFE, AND HOW TO RESPOND
AND DO EMERGENCY PLANNING,
I FEEL FOR YOU."

bout three years ago, the Camden County (Georgia) Board of Commissioners instructed Steve
Howard, the county administrator, to figure out
how to build a spaceport. Lured by the financial
prospects of a $335-billion-per-year (and growing) commercial space industry, the facility envisioned by the
board would launch and potentially land up to 12 commercial rockets per year, craft that would carry satellites, cargo,
research equipment, and more bound for Earth's orbit.
"But it's not just about launching rockets-that's just the
catalyst. There are all of these residual opportunities that also
come with it," Howard said, with the deftness of a salesman
who believes wholeheartedly in the vision and has had years
to practice the pitch. Apart from the millions of dollars the
facility could generate in launch fees, Howard believes the
spaceport could also spur a research and innovation hub in
the county, create hundreds of high-paying jobs, inspire a generation of students, and attract thousands of tourists each year
to watch powerful rockets blast into space.
That is, if it gets built.
Since Spaceport Camden's vision was conceived, Howard has
been engrossed in the project as its spokesman and leader. He
meets regularly with executives from commercial space companies who seek him out to learn more and to potentially line

30 | NFPA JOURNAL * M A R C H /A P R I L 2 0 1 8

up invaluable future launch space. He holds frequent meetings
with myriad federal agencies, as well as local stakeholders such
as the nearby naval base and local emergency management
departments. He has also assembled a bevy of consultants-
ranging from private space industry insiders to retired Air
Force generals-to help him navigate the detailed spaceport
permitting process required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
"I kid and say I've got more generals than Donald Trump
now," Howard said of the team he has put in place to compile
the information necessary to complete the environmental
impact and safety documents demanded by the FAA. "As
much as it can be a cumbersome, complex, and expensive process, on the other side of it I understand sometimes it needs to
be that. This is a renaissance in the space industry that is just
starting to emerge. It's not a cookie-cutter process."
Indeed, building a commercial launch site for rockets is
anything but cookie cutter, even for people with years of
experience. With the commercial space industry poised for
significant growth and demand for launch space reaching the
stratosphere, that complexity and lack of accessible guidance
is raising concern in the industry. To help, NASA recently submitted a request to NFPA to explore the possibility of creating
a new standard on spaceport construction and operation.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - March/April 2018