InterFlight
Global (IFG) has partnered with Starfighters Aerospace at Kennedy Space Center
(KSC) to lead, design, develop and conduct a Space Tourism Point-to-Point
Pathfinder set of flight missions using Starfighters' supersonic F-104 jet
aircraft. IFG intends to promote, develop, enhance and position Florida as the
world’s leading Space Tourism hub.
IFG’s
project is fundamentally an economic and tourism development enhancer through
the use of Suborbital proxy flights. In addition to economic and business
development gains to the State, the project will deliver meaningful suborbital
transportation, tourism and experimental science and technologies. The missions
will also mimic the flight profiles of multiple space tourism vehicles at
multiple Florida spaceports, including NASA KSC, Cecil Field in Jacksonville,
and Space Coast Regional Airport.
"The
project will involve economic and tourism development entities, regulatory
agencies, spaceport operators and spaceflight companies in a comprehensive
exercise to identify, understand and resolve infrastructure, touristic-visitors
processes, operational and regulatory challenges that face the suborbital space
tourism industry," said IFG Chairman, Oscar S. Garcia, who is also a
USDOT FAA-AST Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) full
member and working group participant. "These challenges exist in every
state, but with this project only Florida will have the confidence to say that
it has taken the necessary steps to overcome them and create a Space Tourism
highway poised for growth in the near and long term future."
Using
funds provided to Space Florida for "space tourism marketing", the
project would allow the state and its spaceports to market themselves as "
wide open for business." In addition to space tourism, the project would
also promote the development of future space transportation
point-to-point industries and activities, for high value cargo like
transplant organs, and test future approaches for space traffic management.
Oscar S. Garcia is also Co-Chairman and interim Managing Director of Suborbital
transportation leading group Fast Forward (www.fastforwardproject.com
)
