This hasnt gotten alot of responses in the Midwest section....which is weird. Here it is for your enjoyment.
Bill envisions liftoff for Sheboygan
With lake to east, affinity for rocketry, city may have makings for spaceport
By PATRICK MARLEY
pmarley@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Nov. 28, 2005
Madison - The latest economic development plan coming out of the state Capitol could be summarized as one small step for Sheboygan, one giant leap for Wisconsin.
Sen. Joe Leibham (R-Sheboygan) said Monday that his plan to create the Wisconsin Aerospace Authority would attract federal aid for Spaceport Sheboygan, a potential launch pad for commercial satellites, rockets bound for the international space station and, eventually, spaceships packed with tourists.
"I think everybody realizes this is a new economic frontier for Wisconsin," Leibham said. "When the future has arrived, . . . we want to be ready to meet the economic opportunity."
Leibham and his supporters at a public hearing Monday acknowledged that many people initially react to the idea with disbelief, but said they quickly come around when they learn the space tourism industry alone could enjoy revenue of $1 billion a year by 2020.
Former Lt. Gov. Margaret Farrow said creating a state aerospace authority would turn Sheboygan into a "doorway to space" and suggested that skeptics today should remind themselves of what people thought of the possibility of traveling to the moon in the 1950s.
"Now people no longer scoff at Buck Rogers," she said.
The Senate Committee on Economic Development and Consumer Affairs held a hearing Monday on Leibham's bill (SB-352) to create the aerospace authority. Leibham said he expects the Republican-led Senate to vote on it next month.
Doyle was traveling in northwest Wisconsin and unavailable for comment Monday, but spokeswoman Melanie Fonder said he was open to the proposal.
"It's an intriguing idea," she said. "The governor proposed a third year of math and science earlier this year, so these are the types of jobs he's interested in creating in Wisconsin. It sounds promising, and we'll take a look at it when the bill moves a little further."
Rockets and shuttles tend to launch east over large bodies of water, making Sheboygan well-suited for a spaceport, said George French, the president of Rocketplane Ltd., a firm developing a spaceship. French, who testified Monday, is also the president of education group Space Explorers Inc.
Launches from Sheboygan would not have to compete with other aircraft because much of the airspace over the lake is restricted, he said. Representatives from Kennedy Space Center have inspected the site and deemed it appropriate for such launches, he said.
Christina Paape, vice president of Space Explorers Inc., said Sheboygan's geographic location makes it better situated than Florida for launches to the international space station.
Since 1995, rockets have been launched from the site as part of the local Rockets for Schools program. Each year, more than 300 students from Wisconsin and neighboring states build 8-foot-tall rockets and develop experiments to conduct on their flights. Specialists who assist them also launch a 20-foot rocket.
The Sheboygan Development Corp. and other area boosters for years have been pushing a plan to develop a spaceport, as well as a $15 million education center, which would be funded with private donations.
Tapping deep pockets
The spaceport would likely be able to tap into money from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the military and venture capitalists such as Amazon.com president Jeff Bezos and Virgin Airlines owner Richard Branson who, with others, have poured more than $1 billion into space projects in recent years, French said.
But the spaceport likely can't obtain any federal money unless the state creates the authority, Leibham said.
The project would be undertaken without using money from state taxpayers, Leibham said. Once created, the authority would have to develop a business plan even though it would have no funding for its day-to-day operations.
Leibham noted that volunteers for years have worked on getting a spaceport in Sheboygan and would continue to do so after the authority was created.
The agency could issue bonds worth up to $100 million, but those funds would have to be paid back without tax money. Revenue would be generated from launch pad rentals and other charges.
But Sen. Russ Decker (D-Schofield), a member of the committee that held Monday's hearing, said he was concerned that the state eventually may have to bankroll part of the effort.
"The whole emphasis of the Republican Party for years has been to privatize, to have government get out of the way," he said. "This seems to be a 180 (degree)" turn.
The bill's supporters disagreed, saying the authority was merely a way to make sure the Sheboygan project could capture federal grants.
The bill would allow the authority to design and develop spaceports and spacecraft, and would require the state to establish a spaceport in Sheboygan. The authority would be required to promote Spaceport Sheboygan and other facilities through advertising.
The Wisconsin Aerospace Authority would be a quasi-governmental body, one structured less like the Department of Transportation and more like the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority. As such, the Legislature would not have approval over the authority's budget or its administrative rules.
Nine individuals would oversee the authority - six appointed by the governor and approved by the Senate; one appointed by the Senate president; one appointed by the Assembly speaker; and the director of the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium, which is the Wisconsin arm of NASA.> |
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