The House is now set to take up a bill designed to support the space industry in Florida and stay ahead of other states seeking to nab more aerospace contracts.
The House Commerce Committee is the latest panel to approve the bill (HB 1177). The measure already cleared two other Committees and now heads to the House floor.
The bill’s sponsor, Merritt Island Republican Rep. Tyler Sirois, proposed an amendment during the Committee meeting that was approved. It was a technical wording adjustment, but bolsters the intent of the bill by adding stipulations clarifying that all spaceport hubs are covered under the bill. It also “creates a section for economic development of spaceports.”
The goal of the measure is to provide more autonomy at each installation in the state to promote growth of space development.
The bill language says contracting authority over spaceports in Florida “shall be vested in the spaceport director or commander for that facility.” Development and program expansion plans for each spaceport facility in Florida would need to be submitted to Space Florida for review, but those plans would not be “subject for approval by Space Florida,” per the legislation.
The bill is designed to grow the number of aerospace companies hooked into space projects in Florida and comes amid record-breaking aerospace activity. In 2025, Space Florida oversaw a new high of 109 launches from Sunshine State facilities. In January, officials projected that figure would likely be eclipsed this year.
The original measure also called for tax exemptions for nongovernmental companies who are contracted with space programs. Sirois in a previous Committee meeting asked for an amendment to remove the tax portion, saying the House Ways and Means Committee will take that element up in a separate tax package.
A similar bill in the Senate (SB 1512) has only been approved by one Committee, however, and it appears that there’s no time to move through the final two Committee stops. One of the two Committees supposed to hear the bill, the Finance and Tax Committee, currently has no additional hearings listed before Session ends.
