Commercial space authority may get boost

Gov. Bob McDonnell proposed Tuesday to increase the state funding and workforce of the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority to elevate the profile of its Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island.
"The question is, what do we need to do to get it to the next level - to be a primary launch facility for commercial and military satellites versus one that may be considered secondary?" said Sean Connaughton, the state's secretary of transportation.
McDonnell's office Tuesday released a study, done by KPMG, an accounting and consulting firm, on the space authority and endorsed its recommendations for expanding business at the space port.
The study said Virginia "is among the leaders in providing state incentives to attract customers." Even so, McDonnell will propose a "significant" increase in state funding for the authority, which receives $1.5 million a year, before next year's General Assembly session, Connaughton said.
The money would be used in part to increase marketing and to expand the staff. The authority, the report said, has a full-time director and six staff members. All but the director are employees of Old Dominion University, Connaughton said.
The study also criticized the authority's board, saying it "operates in a reactive mode" and doesn't play a big role in setting policy and direction. The report suggested reducing the size of the board from 13 members to between seven and nine. It also proposed dropping a requirement that the board include one representative each from Northampton and Accomack counties.
Space-related business "contributes $7.6 billion in annual direct economic output and supports over 28,000 jobs" in Virginia, according to a news release Tuesday from McDonnell's office.
Connaughton noted a major coup for the spaceport: Orbital Sciences Corp. will begin launching supplies to the International Space Station from Wallops next year.
"The governor very much believes that we have a real opportunity here to expand the economic impacts of space in Virginia," Connaughton said, "and we're going to do everything we can to take advantage of that."
A call to the space authority's office in Norfolk was not returned Tuesday.
Philip Walzer, (757) 222-3864, phil.walzer@pilotonline.com