On second day of the Paris Air Show, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed two bills in law that will enhance the state’s aerospace, transportation and mobility innovation sectors.
The first, Senate Bill 1516, calls for the creation of the International Aerospace Innovation Fund (IAIF) to be administered by Space Florida, the state’s aerospace economic development authority. The fund will enable strategic partnerships between Florida-based companies, international firms, research institutions and space agencies. Its goal is to boost commerce, research and development with expanded outreach, attracting new business and creating jobs.
IAIF is funded through a mix of public and private sources. The state has direct appropriations to Space Florida, as well as the Florida Opportunity Fund, along with other investments and grant opportunities. The program will also leverage matching contributions from private aerospace companies and venture capital funds.
This multi-faceted funding structure encourages collaboration between government entities, private industry and international partners to support aerospace research, commercialization and workforce development.
Senate Bill 1662 creates the Florida Transportation Research Institute to foster research and innovation. The institute will fund facility upgrades for spaceports, as well as their manufacturing capabilities and logistics. It will ensure that spaceport lands will be protected from development by other entities-this is especially important with 60% of global launches originating in Florida.
It also supports advanced air mobility by building vertiports for electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL). This relatively new mode of transportation is revolutionizing the movement of people and cargo within cities and regionally. Emergency response and search and rescue also use eVTOLs, which can assist state authorities in locations with multiple weather emergencies each year.
Similar to the IAIF, the Florida Transportation Research Institute is open to several ways of funding, but the institute’s financial backbone is the State Transportation Trust Fund, supplemented by grant mechanisms in seaport and spaceport infrastructure programs.
The big round of announcements at the show were bookended by economically energizing announcements. Among the announcements, aircraft manufacturing company Otto Aviation announced the relocation of its global headquarters to Jacksonville and construction of an 850,000 square foot facility at Jacksonville’s Cecil Airport. Otto will invest $430 million for capital improvements and create an estimated 439 new jobs.
In addition, French aircraft manufacturer AURA AERO announced the opening of its first U.S. facility at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Research Park in Daytona Beach. The project will bring two structures, a 10,000 square-foot delivery and support center for the INTEGRAL R trainer aircraft and a 500,000 square-foot manufacturing facility for its 19-seat hybrid-electric aircraft, ERA. Space Florida is expected to invest $3.4 million to start, with 1,000 jobs anticipated.
Photo by Jojo Tesini from Pexels
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