Florida Space Authority

---

White Paper Series
VOLUME ONE / NUMBER ONE

Introduction:
In a series of articles, the Florida Space Authority outlines specific stories of its work with the space industry to build Florida's economy. These stories make up a small portion of the agency's work since 1989 and are also available through the Florida Space Authority website.

The Issue and Challenges:
Florida was in need of new facilities to support the maintenance of NASA's next generation launch vehicles that would replace the space shuttle. As the new Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) programs continued to advance, Florida Space Authority was challenged to build a hangar on the Space Coast that would meet very specific requirements to support the new vehicle. Inherit to a decision for building the new hangar was the idea that the infrastructure must be flexible enough to change with the evolution of vehicle's design and not become an unusable asset when the program ended.

In addition, if the government decided to change its expectations or protocols, the hangar could be modified accordingly.

The Solution:
Florida Space Authority began an exhaustive search for the right options for a Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) hangar facility that would accommodate the new concepts - and make a difference in the Florida economy. Through the Authority's extensive statewide network it was introduced to a Florida-based company in Crystal River, ASFI.

ASFI had the concept for an appropriate hangar and the Authority was able to provide a construction schedule for the company that would create milestone dates within the project that would better allocate payments and move the project to completion. ASFI provided the Authority with the kind of hangar facilities that could be modified to manage any number of vehicles and processes associated with space travel.

Through its work on the RLV hangar project, ASFI was introduced to representatives from the United States Air Force and today has contracts for building specialized hangers for the B-2 Stealth Bombers. In addition, this specialized company was able to add additional factory space and double its workforce over the past two years as a result of its initial work with FSA.

* Revised for web publication