In a small county without a lot of business, spending taxpayer money on something that is perceived by some to be a risk hits home. "You've heard of the Silicon Valley? The goal is to create the Silicon Marsh." It's the innovation, the STEM part, all these variety of things that we talk about," Howard says in a telephone interview. "For us, it's never been really about the launching. Howard, who has been in local government for more than 20 years, practically breaks into song about Camden County's potential. It's already a crowded space, but one that the Camden County Joint Development Authority - at the urging of the Camden County Board of Commissioners - jumped into at least a decade ago.
spaceport, something vital to regional business interests, national security and a great place to bring the kids on vacation.Ĭamden will compete with spaceports in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico ( Spaceport America) Mojave, California (the Mojave Air & Space Port) Watkins, Colorado (the Colorado Air and Space Port) Kodiak, Alaska (the Pacific Spaceport Complex-Alaska) Burns Flat, Oklahoma (the Oklahoma Spaceport) Wallops Island, Virginia (the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport) and many others a few established, some struggling and some, like Camden County's, still a dream. He is selling Camden County as the next, say, Houston, or the next Kennedy Space Center, the next bigger, better U.S. Spaceport Camden is a once-in-a-generation opportunity that will inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers and explorers while creating aerospace and supply chain jobs, as well as bringing tourism dollars to the region." In his LinkedIn bio, he says he is "working to realize Spaceport Camden's vision of developing a world-class spaceport through a public-private partnership that will establish Camden County as the commercial space center of the United States. Howard, the Camden County administrator, is also the Spaceport Camden executive project lead, and has been since January 2014. It would mean innovation, prestige, and a national and international cachet that could make Georgia a leader in the aerospace sector. 2 aerospace engineering program in the nation) from leaving the state. It could mean more career opportunities in a tech-emerging state that would prevent talent grown in incubators like Atlanta's Georgia Tech (which has the No. The payoff to Camden County and the state of Georgia could be millions in annual revenue and potentially hundreds of new jobs between the spaceport itself and supporting industries. The payloads, for now, will be satellites that will provide communications and other space-based info to commercial and government customers. As the idea is now structured, Spaceport Camden will not handle manned (or, more accurately, human) payloads. Steve Howard's job is to sell people on Camden County's spaceport - Spaceport Camden - where rocket-based payloads will be launched into orbit for visionaries like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.