Camden County is reducing the size of the rockets it plans to launch at its proposed Spaceport Camden at the same time that recently released communications from the Federal Aviation Administration reveal that officials there have doubts about how the project will meet safety requirements.
Camden County on Dec. 14 requested that the FAA narrow the application to include the operation of only small launch vehicles rather than the medium-large ones that were originally requested. Camden asked for the change just days before a required environmental review of the original proposal was expected.
The move is not a setback, County Administrator Steve Howard said in a .
"The space industry has progressed dramatically since we started this process," Howard said. "Smaller launch vehicles and small internet and defense satellites have become far and away the biggest market segment for Spaceport Camden."
Camden County and the FAA have agreed to "pause" the license review and refocus the application on small launch vehicles.
Spaceport Camden plans to launch rockets from an abandoned industrial site on the mainland over nearby residences on Little Cumberland Island and over Cumberland Island National Seashore, a proposal that some residents and park supporters oppose as unsafe. There are 100 two-acre lots and 46 cottages on Little Cumberland.
"Our community on Little Cumberland Island has opposed the project on the basis that it endangers us, our homes and the natural environment of the Island," wrote Kevin Lang in an email. Lang is an Athens-based attorney whose family owns one of those cottages. "We remain committed to protecting the Island from this dangerous and ill-conceived project."
Emails from FAA officials obtained by the Southern Environmental Law Center with a Freedom of Information Act request and reviewed by the Savannah Morning News reveal how unusual Camden's situation is.
"... (The Office of Commercial Space Transportation) has never had a site operator propose such close proximate population overflight to the launch point (vertical launch)," wrote Manager Pam Underwood in December 2018.
Camden, a county with about a tenth of the tax digest of Chatham County, has spent almost $8 million on the project so far, including about $3 million to acquire the property. Resident Steve Weinkle, who operates the website Spaceport Camden Facts, has tallied the expenditures.
"I don't see how they can risk so much money on a project that doesn't even have a business plan," he said.
in its application, namely that: "Camden County has not demonstrated that it can control and manage the population in the vicinity of the proposed launch site, particularly on Little Cumberland Island;" the county had not secured an agreement with the U.S. Coast Guard district to issue of a Notice to Mariners prior to a launch; and the county had not submitted the coastal consistency review to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, thereby preventing the FAA from being able to complete its review under the National Environmental Policy Act or NEPA.
It's unclear which if any of those issues have been cleared up, Chairman Jimmy Starline included other issues, unrelated to rocket size.
"... (P)lease be advised there remain issues/concerns that have not yet been satisfactorily resolved:
"Fire -- A launch accident may cause an uncontrollable fire on (Little Cumberland Island) or Big Cumberland Island. Access to LCI for firefighting and egress from LCI for evacuation are limited.
"U.S. National Security -- The Department of Defense (DoD) has concerns that the proximity of launch operations to a vital U.S. Navy base might jeopardize foreign policy or national security interests of the United States.
"Environmental Assessment -- Camden County has not completed the environmental review process."
The letter closes, "Even with the proposed narrowing of your application scope, there is no assurance the FAA will make a favorable license determination in view of the issues raised above."
Brian Gist, a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center said moving from a larger rocket to a smaller one trades off the problems they pose.
"With a larger rocket, when it explodes you have a larger explosion area, sort of a debris field if you want to think of it that way," he said. "But for a smaller rocket you have a higher probability of failure."
Burning debris could set fire to parts of Cumberland or Little Cumberland, islands with narrow dirt roads and limited firefighting equipment.
With any size rocket, the need to evacuate nearby residents and visitors on a launch day may be problematic.
"For them to restrict the ability of private individuals to use private property would open a whole can of worms about private property rights," Gist said, "and whether they're effectively taking private property by restricting the use of that property by private individuals."
Camden officials say the temporary pause will "allow the FAA to conduct additional analysis on the launch of small launch vehicles at Spaceport Camden and will further address any safety concerns expressed in public comments."
The county and FAA are developing a new timeline for the completion of its application and associated environmental reviews.
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