Haridopolos To Lead Space Subcommittee. A Win For Florida

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In what can only be seen as a major positive for the Space Coast, the county's own freshman congressman, Mike Haridopolos, has been tapped to chair the congressional Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics .

"It's so important to our community and I'm optimistic that we can really move the ball and just continue the good work that's happening at (Kennedy Space Center)," Haridopolos said Thursday. "It's a huge honor and and I know there's some big opportunities for us to really make the most of."

Haridopolos was just finishing his tenure as Florida Senate President when the shuttle program came to an end. The economy in Brevard spiraled. That was when Haridopolos and other Florida lawmakers worked to put a chunk of money into the Economic Development Commission.

"We even changed laws, we put the seed money there and we enticed companies like Embraer and L3Harris to stay or come here (to Brevard)," Haridopolos said. "We didn't know what would come next and fortunately those investments are paying off now."

The huge number of SpaceX rockets launched from here and the recent successful launch of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket are surely proof of that now.

"As NASA has has proven, there is a role for each and so as we as we're waiting on the Artemis program we need to have the ability to get men and women into space, let alone our satellite technology and other military needs into space, and fortunately the commercial sector is leading the charge," Haridopolos said. "It's an ever-changing world and I'm honored to be the chairman of that committee and I'm optimistic that that we can continue to grow Florida."

Those sentiments have been brought up recently by Gov. Ron DeSantis as well, who said "no one goes to it," meaning the NASA headquarters building.

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