BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – With the government shutdown extending into a second month, there are some new concerns about how the space industry could be impacted.
As excitement builds on the Space Coast to watch just the second launch of Blue Origin’s 300-foot-tall New Glenn rocket, the FAA said there could be fewer launches in the future
2025 has been another year for record launch pace, but when Director Bryan Bedford talked about fewer planes flying because of the government shutdown and overworked air traffic controllers, he said the space industry would be impacted, too.
“This is going to go beyond commercial airspace,” Bedford said Wednesday. “It’s going to include restrictions on space launches.”
That was all the FAA director said about restricting launches, so it’s unclear what the implications are yet, but Dr. Ken Kremer, the editor of SpaceUpClose.com, explained giving some air traffic controllers some well-deserved time off means there will be less of them working to make sure planes and rockets don’t collide.
The FAA needs to sign off on every launch and anytime a rocket flies, it restricts airspace or redirects planes.
Kremer’s now concerned about NASA staying on track to launch Artemis II, the first astronauts who will fly around the moon in more than 50 years.
“They originally had April as a target date,” he said. “They moved it up to February, and then, the shutdown began. It seems very unlikely now, from what I’m hearing, that February is gonna happen.”
When the shutdown started a month ago, Rep. Mike Haridopolos (R-Brevard County) said the Artemis program would still be essential work for NASA employees.
“That Artemis II mission is our first time going around the moon with astronauts since 1972,” the congressman said. “That is still on schedule. Nothing changes, whatsoever.”
In October, Haridopolos also said he thought the shutdown would be a short-term situation.
“We’re losing American leadership in space and science because of these budget cutbacks,” Kremer said.
Blue Origin’s launch attempt Sunday is a science mission to study Mars.
The launch window runs from 2:51 to 4:50 p.m., so potentially, there could be thousands of people coming to Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach because of the excellent visibility of the pad from beaches.
“It’ll be nice. It’ll be a lot of people, I imagine,” Cape Canaveral visitor Tammy Salada said.
Mike Corbett from Tennessee also has a place at the beach.
“That’s the cool thing about Blue Origin,” he said. “We’re in the catbird seat for sure.”
Stick with News 6 and ClickOrlando.com for coverage of the mission and the ongoing shutdown’s impact on future launches, potentially.