Q: What are the three factors every Realtor knows that make for a great property? A: Location, Location, and Location.

And Camden County has the best location for the Commercial Space Industry. Here are a few reasons companies are lining up to bring high tech jobs to Camden:

• an industrial-zoned property with a community committed to the preservation of the environment and wildlife

• Interstate-95 for access and transport

• deep-water for barge loading/transport

• the fuel cost to reach orbit will always be cheaper here than Virginia because of the curvature of the earth

• Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay nearby facilitates DoD relationships

• a world-class, history-making Hydrogen Production Facility is in close proximity

• a community of military technical experts who could join companies after retirement at young ages

• no federal bureaucracy

• very low probability of hurricane impacts vs Florida, Virginia, and Texas

• College of Coastal Georgia and Coastal Pines Technical College

• state recognized school system of excellence

• the Spaceport Visitors Center will be at a new road off of I-95 and will remember the Patriots of Thiokol and promote STEAM in schools

SPACEPORT TRUTH vs FICTION

We've been told the launch site has toxic environmental issues that would rise out of the soil during a launch. Is that true?

No. First of all, there is not enough energy from liquid fueled launch vehicles to vibrate the ground so intensely that toxic vapors could be released. Launches from Georgia could launch in the middle of the night and no one would even notice a sound. Persons represented by lawyers (from outside southeast Georgia) with self-serving intentions are writing the narratives for those opposed to the spaceport. Big money from three prominent foundations from wealthy families (outside of Camden County) pours in to supporters writing the anti-spaceport commentaries. The people of Georgia deserve the TRUTH, and our representatives in government need to seek experts and not listen to fake commentators. Most importantly, those opposing the Spaceport site have dileberately mislabeled it as a Brownfield Site and even called it a Federal Superfund Site. Please take the time to research these terms. Neither of these terms for contaminated areas apply to the Spaceport. An environmental organization from Brunswick is aware that Brunswick has the four closest Brownfield sites to Camden. The current property owner of the site, Union Carbide Corporation, has identified residual toxic areas. The County (or it's citizens) will not take on any liability to clean up any toxins. The current owner of the property must clean up or mitigate all hazards before closing on the sale of the property.

The Spaceport property will always be zoned industrial. Would it be better to leave it alone, and if there are still toxins in the ground, allow them to trickle into the ground water? Or, would it be better to repurpose the site, by first ensuring that it is cleaned up? It is the intention of the Spaceport designers and operators to see that it is a clean industry where the ground water is safe. The management of the Spaceport will always be committed to safety and to maintain the property such that the environment is protected. One day, after the Spaceport is operational a few years, it is expected that bald eagles will return to nest on the site.

A clean industry such as Commercial Space would always protect the environment. Healthy deer without toxins would return to the property. Hunters at Ceylon Wildlife Management Area will greatly benefit from the Spaceport commitment to the environment.

Did you know a summer thunderstorm imparts to the ground more energy than a Commercial Rocket Launch?

We've been told the residents of Harriett's Bluff and former plant workers have long lasting health effects due to the Union Carbide and Bayer Crop Science industrial plants where the Spaceport will be. They warn that no one should enter those gates... ever. Assuming that the health effects are true, wouldn't it be better to repurpose the site such that it is cleaned up and safe?

Yes. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved the Spaceport's Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The Georgia Department of Natural Resources reviewed the EIS and approved it. The US Navy reviewed and approved it. The FAA issued a spaceport license to Spaceport Camden on December 20, 2021. A company has purchased the Bayer Crop Science site. Their plan is to develop it into a world class research and technology hub to support the Spaceport, the local schools and technical colleges, and technical Navy personnel who retire from Kings Bay. This company is developing the Kings Bay Research & Technology Park.

So do you understand how contradictory the opposition is? They say the sites are contaminated and affecting lives in the county every day. They say the sites continue to contaminate our ground water. They say that is why no new industry should be located there. Yet the Spaceport will repurpose the land such that it is pristine again. If nothing is done with the property, then whatever toxins are there will remain and will continue to affect the ground water and wildlife.

We've been told a launch from the spaceport would fly over Cumberland Island and endanger the National Park. Is this true?

No. First of all, those opposing Georgia's launch site routinely compare the site to test sites. They want you to believe that every launch has a great deal of risk associated with it. The launch vehicles called rockets launching from Spaceport Camden are not test vehicles. They would all be operated by companies with demonstrated safety records. Before each launch, the company will have to certify with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that they have a valid and robust safety and quality program. They will have to prove to the FAA that they are safe to conduct a launch. Those companies seek to make a profit from the science experiments that they launch (see Why GO Into Space? on this site). Second of all, the FAA approved the Spaceport's launch profile. A launch from the spaceport initially goes straight up. It does not arc over Cumberland Island. At 80,000 feet, the rocket pitches over and puts the scientific payload into space. Cumberland Island is located directly beneath one of the busiest Federal Aviation Airways for north and south flights up and down the east coast. Those aircraft fly from 25,000 feet to 45,000 feet. Is anyone concerned about the hundreds of planes a week flying over Cumberland Island causing damage to the island? No, they are not.

We've been told teachers in the Camden County School System are overwhelmingly against the Spaceport. Is this true?

No. Unfortunately, when the few opposed to the project espouse their "facts" about the spaceport, they quickly devolve into personal attackts and fear mongering. On February 17, 2022, the opposition leader published a letter to all the city and county leadership, the local paper, and Brunswick, Jacksonville, and Savannah news outlets attacking a former Superintendent of Schools and County Commissioner. He attacked the very Superintendent responsible for developing the Camden County School System into the state recognized system of excellence that it is today. He also attacked the current school system. His attack on the former State Superintendent of the Year read as follows: "Over 3,450 Camden County registered voters signed petitions to stop buying the contaminated Union Carbide property. That’s a lot of tax-paying parents of Camden County students. And we've heard from a lot of government employees, including teachers, who were afraid to sign the public petition, but won't be afraid to privately vote" [against the spaceport].

The opposition leader went on to criticize the former educator: "One of the things we hope you required as Superintendent of Camden County classrooms is an insistence on factual accuracy. Our students deserve a truth-based education. Surprisingly, your letter today to the Editor in the Tribune and Georgian is fraught with factual error and unfounded assumption."

In another letter to the editor, he attacked the Camden County School System of not properly educating students in US and Georgia history. The paper tends to accept his false data as facts and leads many readers to believe that the overwhelming majority of Camden citizens are against the project. Too bad, they didn't take mathematics in our outstanding school system. The overwhelming support being received on this website contradicts the 5% against the project.

Perhaps we would be better served by looking to our County's historical leaders and local military and aerospace experts rather than rabble rousers funded from outsider organizations. The workforce of commercial space companies are passionate about using space to make life better on earth. They work hard and give back to their community. Imagine a day when each school in Camden, Glynn, Charlton, and Ware counties and beyond have a dedicated team from a commercial space company assist the school with robotics, and inspirational visits. This fact is irrefutable: the spaceport will be the best thing that's ever happened in Camden for wildlife, our infrastructure, taxpayers, and for bringing Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics jobs so that students may graduate from high school here and work here.

The Camden County Commissioners are committed to creating a Spaceport Camden Visitors Center with 5 Major Sections.

The Spaceport Camden Visitors Center will have 5 Major Sections to communicate the successes of the project.

1. LEGACY: Remembering the Thiokol Corporation Patriots who lost their lives for their country. Includes displays on the early US Space Program, the Patriots work during the Vietnam War, and the end to Segregation.

2. FOR BENEFITS ON EARTH: Showcasing science, technology, medical, and material developments from the project. Up coming missions.

3. PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT: Highlighting the subprojects to preserve and study the coastal waterways and marshes, pine forests, and native wildlife. A partnership with colleges and universities studying ecosystems.

4. PROSPERING GEORGIA AND THE SOUTHEAST: Showing the influence of Commercial Space Companies to the police, fire, rescue, emergency teams, city and county parks and recreation, and infrastructure. Company sponsorships of schools, scoreboards, and community events.

5. THE FUTURE: For the students of Georgia and the surrounding states, how does Spaceport Camden inspire new generations? To take an historical line from the Apollo 13 mission Flight Director, Gene Kranz, and apply it to students, "Failure is Not an Option." Keep a realtime display of how many schools have robotics teams and new Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) programs as a result of Georgia's spaceport.