TALLAHASSEE – State aerospace leaders have outlined major upgrades around Cape Canaveral as they look to build on this year’s record number of launches, which were boosted Monday by the liftoff of two Falcon 9 rockets.

Space Florida officials think six projects, ranging from an improved electrical system to replacing a bridge, need about $100 million a year through public and private investments.

Todd Romberger, Space Florida’s senior vice president of the spaceports business unit, said the work, based on industry trends, would increase the annual “tonnage” capacity of what could be launched at the cape from roughly 1,000 metric tons to 5,000 metric tons.

“That would be the equivalent of about 220 Falcon 9 launches a year, which currently we are getting up close to about 100 or so over the next, I would say, year or two,” Romberger said Thursday during a Space Florida Board of Governors meeting.

Lt. Gov. Jeanette Núñez, who is the chairwoman of the Space Florida board, said listing the projects “really hones in on what the challenges are for our growth.”

The projects

The six projects involve upgrades to wastewater treatment facilities, improved electrical infrastructure, wharf expansion at Port Canaveral, added fuel distribution, wetland mitigation and replacement of the NASA-owned Roy D. Bridges Bridge over the Banana River, which connects the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

“This bridge has some, I’ll call it geometric constraints that will inhibit passage of large cargo over it,” Romberger said. “And so, this is an issue that we will need to solve to help relieve some of the bottleneck in moving large things around the cape.”

Replacing the bridge would cost $145 million.

Meanwhile, upgrading the electrical system across the spaceport is projected to cost $275 million. The current system is considered insufficient for certain launch operations.

Also, Space Florida estimates additional wharf space would cost $2.1 billion.

Space Florida this year released a report calling for a nearly doubling wharf space at Port Canaveral during the next decade to meet the needs of the private space industry.

The study priced the work at $42.2 million for the first phase, growing to $2.1 billion for what is outlined as a seven-phase project.

Space Florida is considering another study to determine how all of the state’s ports can be tied to the space industry.

Part of the reason for the wharf expansion is projected demand for liquid natural gas for launch vehicles. Keeping fuel on pace with expansion, separate from the wharf projects, would cost $182 million.

Another $180 million would go toward locating and restoring wetlands in exchange for at least 381 “wetland mitigation credits” at the cape over the next 10 years.

Also, Space Florida said the spaceport is at capacity for its wastewater. While it will look at on-site treatment, it would prefer new infrastructure that would be installed by Brevard County to accommodate up to 700,000 gallons a day. The estimated cost is $20 million.

“We do not expect these to all be solved solely by the state or by our partners at (the Florida Department of Transportation),” Romberger said. “But the bottom line here is that we need to work together with federal partners, with the spaceport users, to come up with creative solutions where we are, you know, as a community and as an industry contributing together to solve these problems.”

Space Florida didn’t provide a breakdown on how much will be requested from the state and federal governments.

The SpaceX rocket launches on Monday were the 77th and 78th from Florida this year, up from 72 orbital rocket launches from the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in 2023.

There were 57 launches in 2022 and 31 in 2021.

The wharf study projects 197 launches in 2028, 282 in 2033, 386 in 2043 and 1,252 in 2073.

US Senator Marco Rubio is known for his hawkish views on China and staunch support of Israel.

United States President-elect Donald Trump is expected to nominate Florida Senator Marco Rubio as his secretary of state, multiple media outlets have reported.

Trump on Monday appeared to have settled on Rubio, though he could still change his mind, outlets including The New York Times, CNN, CBS News and Reuters reported, quoting unnamed sources familiar with the decision.

Rubio, who is known for his hawkish foreign policy views, would be the first Hispanic American to serve as Washington’s top diplomat if appointed to the role.

Other names who have been tipped as candidates for the role in media reports include Richard Grenell, who served as ambassador to Germany during Trump’s first term, and Robert O’Brien, Trump’s former national security adviser.

Rubio, who serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Foreign Relations Committee, is the latest figure tipped to work under Trump as the makeup of his incoming administration rapidly takes shape.

Trump on Monday named Tom Homan, a former director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as his “border czar”, and Elise Stefanik, a House Republican from New York, as ambassador to the United Nations.

Since his election to the US Senate in 2010, Rubio has staked out a reputation for holding hardline views on US adversaries such as China, Iran, Venezuela and Cuba.

He has also staunchly backed Israel’s war in Gaza, telling a peace activist last year that Hamas was “100 percent to blame” for the deaths of Palestinians in the enclave.

“I want them to destroy every element of Hamas they can get their hands on,” Rubio said in a confrontation with Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin in December.

“These people are vicious animals who did horrifying crimes and I hope you guys post that because that’s my position.”

During his unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2016, Rubio clashed with Trump, mocking his then-rival over the size of his hands and saying he would “make America orange” instead of great again.

Rubio later backed Trump as the Republican nominee in 2016 and acted as a close adviser on foreign policy to the former president during his unsuccessful 2020 run.

During Trump’s latest bid for the White House, Rubio was floated as a possible vice-presidential pick and appeared with him at various events on the campaign trail.

Washington — President-elect Donald Trump is expected to name Rep. Michael Waltz, a Florida Republican, as his national security adviser, two sources familiar with the plans confirmed to CBS News. 

The national security adviser is a top aide to the president who plays a major role in foreign and national security policy decision-making. The role does not require Senate confirmation. 

Waltz, a Green Beret veteran who served multiple combat tours in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa, was elected to Congress in 2018, replacing Ron DeSantis who had been elected Florida’s governor. 

The Wall Street Journal was first to report that Trump had selected Waltz. 

Waltz, a China hawk, serves on the House China Task Force that seeks to develop solutions to address the Chinese Communist Party’s influence. 

He has also been skeptical of giving more aid to Ukraine as it fights Russia’s invasion. He has said that the U.S. has “leverage” over both Ukraine and Russia to get them to the table to negotiate an end to the war. 

“We have leverage, like taking the handcuffs off of the long-range weapons we provided Ukraine as well. And then, of course, I think we have plenty of leverage with Zelenskyy to get them to the table,” he told NPR earlier this month. 

He served nearly three decades in the U.S. Army and National Guard, retiring from the military during his second term in Congress. He was awarded four Bronze Stars, including two for valor. 

Before his election to Congress, Waltz served in various roles at the Pentagon and White House, including as defense policy director for Secretaries of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates. 

Waltz’s wife, Julia Nesheiwat, served as Trump’s Homeland Security adviser in the last year of his first term. She has also served in various roles in the Bush and Obama administrations. 

Trump had three national security advisers in his first administration. Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster (now a CBS News contributor) was the first, and Trump fired him after 13 months. John Bolton replaced McMaster, and he lasted 17 months in the job before he was also ousted from the administration. Trump’s final national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, remained in the post until the end of Trump’s first term.