In one of my favorite Bugs Bunny cartoons, Bugs is determined to show that rabbits are not timid creatures that can be ignored.  So, in the first recorded action of an Energizer-class bunny, Bugs uses a shovel to fill-in the Grand Canyon.  Moving east, he uses a saw to separate Florida from the mainland and kicks it out to sea.  We last see Florida drifting south, destination unknown.

As Florida struggles to find itself within the clashing contexts of NewSpace and OldSpace, it currently seems to be drifting along, space destination unknown. 

Florida and space exploration are synonymous for obvious historical reasons, and it is this same history that Florida must overcome if it's going to successfully adapt to NewSpace business opportunities while continuing to serve its OldSpace customers.  Current events demonstrate how difficult this will be:

• As reported by The Space Review, "Last months officials with the airport authority in Jacksonville, Florida, held a public hearing about plans to apply for a spaceport license for Cecil Field, a former naval air station west of the city."
• In the same article:  "Steve Kohler, president of Space Florida, described ... the challenges of getting a deal in place to allow SpaceX to use SLC-40, a former Titan launch pad at Cape Canaveral, for the Falcon 9 rocket 'The challenge was, and it was a difficult challenge, was to persuade the U.S. Air Force to grant a license for access,' he said."
• While the above efforts demonstrate progress on the forward-looking NewSpace front, yesterday's Washington Post and Florida Today reported on US Rep. Dave Weldon's efforts to extend shuttle flights beyond 2010.  Nothing could make it more clear how strongly Florida is wedded to its OldSpace past, especially if you watch the Weldon video at Florida Today.  Not once does he mention the potential jobs of the emerging commercial NewSpace industry.  (If we're gong to spend an extra $10 Billion on US space actvity, it should be used to support the development of new technologies and new industries, not prop-up a globally uncompetitive remnant of decades past.  That's how you create new jobs and entirely new industries)

In the middle of all this is Space Florida, created in May 2006 to consolidate Florida Space Authority, Florida Space Research Institute, and Florida Aerospace Finance Corporation into a single entity.  While this demonstrated the recognition that "the space times they are a' changing," consolidations of this magnitude do not come without their own political, bureaucratic, and organizational challenges, on top of the challenges of serving existing OldSpace clients while searching for new NewSpace clients.  Indeed, I've been told that infighting continues among employees of the three original organizations, that some in the state government erroneously blame Space Florida for the pending loss of shuttle jobs (unless Dave Weldon is successful, which I think is highly unlikely), and that some believe Space Florida's continued existence is questionable due to organized resistance within the state govt. and from some unhappy clients of the three previous organization.

Florida has much to offer this nation and our world as the space economy unfolds, but difficult and painful decisions are required to avoid the slow death of merely drifting along.