Rep. Haridopolos leading the Space subcommittee is a win for the Space Coast | Opinion

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.

The subcommittee is part of the congressional Science, Space and Technology Committee, which oversees agency budgets totaling more than $42 billion. The subcommittee basically has jurisdiction over all things related to space. More importantly for us, it means someone who lives in Brevard and knows first-hand the importance of a healthy space industry to the area will be a leading voice when it comes to policy and decision-making.

Haridopolos replaces Republican Texas Congressman Mike Babin, who on Jan. 11 was selected to chair the Science, Space and Technology Committee. Chairing subcommittees is not typically the norm for first-year lawmakers.

"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."

End of shuttle program paved the way

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."

NASA to Florida?

Speaking of NASA, Haridopolos said he might just try and influence fellow Floridian, President Donald Trump, to move the NASA headquarters ― right now in Washington D.C., where, according to Haridopolos, only 8 percent of the building is occupied ― to Florida and maybe even the Space Coast.

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.

But first things first.

"First and foremost, there is unanimous support from at least the leadership in this that we need to move the NASA headquarters out of Washington DC, that's job number one," Haridopolos said. "There's no need to have NASA headquarters in Washington DC. We need to build this facility where the action is as opposed to where the bureaucrats are. I think President Trump is spot on when he said we need to get people out of Washington D.C. and into the real world."

So, what does Trump think about NASA coming to Brevard County?

"I hope I can lobby him successfully to get that done," Haridopolos said. "But that's a fight for another day. The first fight is getting NASA out of Washington."

Space dominance and the military

In a conversation with Haridopolos in mid-January, he spoke candidly about the growing escalations with China and the need to find and keep an advantage, at least militarily, in space.

"We are in a de facto Cold War with China right now. Just a few years ago they actually collided some satellites up in space to see what the debris effect might be and they're working with different type of propulsion systems and laser systems to try to get the upper hand of the over the United States," he said.

Haridopolos said that it was more important than ever to stay vigilant and keep progressing further with all things related to space.

"We can't just be space strong, we have to be space dominant and when you have a strong United States of America, the world is a safer place," he said. "I would not be surprised if they (China) make even more territorial ambitions in order to grow communism around the world and so I remain 100% committed to our space industry for both commercial and military needs and what we need to do."

It was another Cold War that sparked the creation of space-related congressional committees in the first place.

NASA, and the permanent House Committee on Science and Astronautics, was created in 1958 as part of the Space Act only because the former Soviet Union launched the first satellite, Sputnik 1, into orbit in 1957. Now as another Cold War plays out in the cosmos, it's nice to know someone with real ties to the Space Coast is helping lead the way.

Contact Torres at jtorres@floridatoday.com. You can follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @johnalbertorres or on Facebook at facebook.com/FTjohntorres.