Michael Baker International Partners with the Titusville-Cocoa Airport Authority for FAA Licensure as a Spaceport Launch Site Operator at the Space Coast Regional Airport

PITTSBURGH, June 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Michael Baker International, a global leader in engineering, planning and consulting services celebrating 80 Years of Making a Difference, is pleased to share that the Titusville-Cocoa Airport Authority has successfully been licensed as a Spaceport Launch Site Operator, allowing the Authority to facilitate and support horizontal launch and landing of space capable vehicles from Space Coast Regional Airport (TIX) in Titusville, Florida. This makes the airport only the 12^th Licensed Spaceport Launch Site in the United States. Michael Baker International partnered with the Authority to perform the professional services necessary to deliver an Environmental Assessment and License Application. These documents demonstrate the capacity, capability and functionality of the Space Coast Regional Airport to operate and safely perform as a Launch Site Operator for commercial horizontal launch vehicles.

"Florida's transportation infrastructure is consistently ranked among the best in the nation and its space transportation capabilities are widely recognized as the best on the planet," said Aaron McDaniel, South Florida Operations Manager at Michael Baker. "With its close proximity to NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Space Coast Regional Airport is an ideal facility for our area's commercial spaceflight industry and we are excited by the vast economic opportunity that the Spaceport Launch Site Operators License will bring to the City of Titusville and North Brevard County."

The Spaceport Launch Site Operators License is the culmination of a multi-year effort and allows the facility to become a commercial spaceport capable of horizontally launching and landing suborbital spacecraft between Titusville and Port Saint John, Florida. The facility will grow the area's burgeoning space businesses and offer incubation opportunities alongside more developed space business at Kennedy Space Center. To support the Spaceport's activities, the Titusville-Cocoa Airport Authority is planning several large-scale construction projects, including a 400,000-square-foot hangar to produce and develop horizontal spacecraft and storage for rocket-grade kerosene and oxidizers, a 400,000-square-foot apron between the hangar and taxiway and a 350,000 square-foot parking lot.

The vision for Florida's Spaceport System is to position Florida Spaceports as the premier transportation hub for global space commerce. Florida's existing Spaceport System has the capacity and infrastructure to accommodate anticipated new launch vehicles over the next 10 years and improvements may be made to existing spaceports to accommodate changes in technologies such as autonomous flight safety and fly-back boosters. Moreover, new and innovative operations and business approaches will drive changing requirements for Spaceport infrastructure and capacity. Space commerce will be an underlying foundation for worldwide space-based services and products already valued at $330 billion annually, with a potential to nearly double over the next 10 years. The elements that involve placement of both hardware and humans into space will also drive and facilitate activities in the frontiers beyond Earth's atmosphere.

About Michael Baker International
Michael Baker International, celebrating 80 Years of Making a Difference, is a leading provider of engineering and consulting services, including design, planning, architectural, environmental, construction and program management.  The company provides its comprehensive range of services and solutions to support U.S. federal, state, and municipal governments, foreign allied governments, and a wide range of commercial clients.  Michael Baker's more than 3,000 employees across nearly 100 locations are committed to a culture of innovation, collaboration and technological advancement to help solve challenges for clients and communities throughout the country. To learn more, visit www.mbakerintl.com.

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SOURCE Michael Baker International

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