Travelers crossing the northern end of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge see only unobstructed wilderness. There is nothing along State Road 3 to tell drivers they are passing through the former community of Shiloh, an area steeped in compelling history, a haven for birds and wildlife, and a hotbed of debate over the future of commercial space flight in Florida.
It was not easy finding Shiloh. We had nothing more to guide us than a red dot on Google Maps, but soon we were hiking through a hardwood hammock watching a deer bound down the trail before us. Before long the oak and cedar canopy opened up into Shiloh Marsh, an expansive tract of water and grass filled with ducks, egrets, herons and osprey. The ratty remains of duck blinds told me in a different season this area is quite popular among waterfowl hunters. Amid all the wildlife, it was rolling tarpon that caught my attention. A foamy splash marked the likely demise of a hapless finger mullet. I took a mental note to return to this spot with a fishing rod, but as I watched the foamy ring dissipate in the wind, I realized we may not be able to return here, nor anyone else, if Space Florida gets its way.
After an exhaustive evaluation of Florida’s east coast, Space Florida decided Shiloh was the best place to build a commercial launch site. Their plan is to develop 200 acres between Mosquito Lagoon and the northern end of the Indian River. The Shiloh complex would include two launch pads and the necessary facilities to support up to 24 commercial launches a year.
Why not just build at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) or Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) where there are already unused launch sites and infrastructure that could be converted for commercial use? A commercial launch site at KSC or CCAFS would be under the federal jurisdiction of NASA and the Air Force. Commercial launch companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin do not want to deal with federal red tape nor do they want to take the chance their launch window would be bumped by a higher priority NASA or military launch.
Shiloh would be a state-owned site that would fall under Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) jurisdiction, which is just what Space Florida claims is needed to lure commercial launch entrepreneurs to Florida. Texas, Georgia and Puerto Rico are already gearing up to take some, if not all, of the commercial launch pie.
Of course, building a commercial launch complex in a national wildlife refuge does not come without opposition. In February 2014, the FAA held public scoping meetings in New Smyrna Beach and Titusville to collect comments from the public. Of the 4,340 comments received, more than 96 percent were opposed to a Shiloh launch complex.
To build a commercial launch site, Space Florida needs a Launch Site Operator License from the FAA. As part of the licensing process, the FAA has to complete an Environmental Impact Study (EIS). For the Shiloh launch site EIS, the FAA has solicited not only public input through the scoping meetings, but also the help of numerous government agencies, including the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).
In two letters to the FAA, the FWS submitted 51 pages of concerns about the proposed Shiloh launch complex. Some of the more notable issues are:
- Sixteen federally listed threatened or endangered species could be negatively impacted by the construction and operation of the proposed launch complex.
- Nine active bald eagle nests within two miles of the proposed launch facilities could be abandoned due to construction and launch activities.
- The Shiloh area is rich with historically significant archeological sites including Native American burial mounds over 2,000 years old, a 1760s British sugar plantation, and two slave villages that could be irrevocably compromised by the construction of a launch complex.
An impact of particular concern to outdoorsmen is reduced access to the lands and waters they love, and in some cases depend on for their livelihood. Launching rockets is a hazardous business. To ensure the safety of the public and the mission during launches, closure zones are established that extend miles from the launch site and the path of the rocket trajectory. Launches from Shiloh would require closures of northern Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (MINWR), State Road 3 and US 1, the northern Indian River and much of Mosquito Lagoon, including the Intracoastal Waterway channel. These are areas that have never been subject to launch related closures before.
The MINWR receives approximately 1.2 million visitors annually. Based on surveys conducted in 2002, over 200,000 boaters a year utilize the portions of the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon that would be subject to launch related closures. According to permits issued by the National Park Service, 77 commercial boating and fishing guides rely on these waters for their business. This all adds up to $60.4 million a year in economic benefit that would be impacted by launch-related closures.
Another troublesome aspect of a Shiloh launch complex is the potential consequences of a launch accident. Launch pads at KSC and CCAFS are right on the coast so a rocket exploding during launch would fall in the ocean. A launch from Shiloh would cross northern MINWR, Mosquito Lagoon and Playlinda Beach. A launch accident could spread debris and related chemicals across these sensitive lands and waters.
Few people in Florida are opposed to Space Florida building a commercial launch complex, but the overwhelming consensus is Shiloh is not the place to build it. The FWS sums it up in their letter to the FAA, “The Service has identified a substantial number of concerns regarding the impacts of the Proposed Project… The Service urges the FAA to seriously consider alternatives to the Project Site so as to avoid the deleterious impacts of the Proposed Project.”
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