[Satellite Today 08-08-08] U.S. Air Force Space Command plans to sell Space Launch Complex (SLC) 36 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., to the state of Florida, the organizations announced Aug. 7.
    The proposed action would grant the state access to the property under a real-estate license for an initial term of five years. Space Florida, a public-private partnership that promote aerospace jobs, will use $14.5 million in state funding to begin rebuilding the launch complex, which was shut down by the Air Force in 2004. The facility, scheduled to be completed in three years, may eventually cost $100 million and would be designed so several companies could use it.
    Through Space Florida, the state will be the broker for the complex to commercial space launch companies. Space Florida would be responsible for developing, managing and paying for operations and maintenance of the facility and reimbursing the Air Force for the services Space Florida uses. SLC-36, built by NASA in 1961 for the Atlas-Centaur rocket, is capable of accommodating light to medium-lift vehicles.
    "The Air Force assignment of Launch Complex 36 is an important next step to extending access to space, making it available to defense and security initiatives and multiple commercial payload and launch activities for both civil and private space businesses that wish to launch from Florida," Steve Kohler, president of Space Florida, said in a statement.