Lawmakers in Michigan had stars in their eyes in 2019 when they said "yes" to what they thought would make the state a super cool rocket hub. But so far, this one's a dud. What happened? It's a real missile mystery.
Here's Five Fast Facts …… :
- ⏱️ First, let's go back in time - It's 2019, and the state just decided to spend $2.5M of taxpayer money studying potential rocket launch sites. The goal was to create thousands of jobs (initial reports said as many as 40,000 jobs!) and launch a trillion-dollar industry.
- 📆 Now to the present - Here we are, 3 years later, we're all still waiting for the study report from Michigan Launch Initiative. But hey, those guys at MLI got paid.
- 🚀 Where the rockets would fly from - The report focuses on 3 different areas: land in Marquette County along Lake Superior, the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda, and the former Kincheloe Air Force Base in the eastern Upper Peninsula.
- 🌳 But wait, the forest… and the lake(s) - Many people are unhappy with the idea of these launch pad bases, saying there’s huge environmental concerns when it comes to putting anything industrial along the otherwise pristine lakeshore.
- 🚌 Did we miss the bus? Err, not the bus. Did we miss the rocket? Are we too late to the game to capitalize on the newly forming space industry? Some people say so. But hey, we're Michiganders. We get things done. Now, about that study…
🔥Bottom line: Rockets are cool. Jobs are cooler. It would be okay to discuss the environmental impacts. But, it doesn't sound like we're even "there" yet, since there is no feasibility study complete. We'll wait to see if we got the shaft on this deal with bated breath.
What do you think? Would launching rockets from Michigan be a good idea?
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