Georgia, we have a problem: State blocks plans for spaceport for private rocket launches

Officials spent a decade and $10.3m trying to make it 13th launch site in US

This artist's sketch provided by Spaceport Camden shows the launch pad complex of the proposed Spaceport Camden in Camden County, Ga. (AP)

A plan to build a spaceport on the Georgia coast to launch satellites into orbit has been rejected by voters.

Officials in Camden County had spent $10.3m over the last decade in an effort to construct the rocket launch pad on the Georgia-Florida state line.

But in a referendum forced by the plan’s opponents, the county was refused permission to buy the 4,000 acres that is needed for the project.

Now the county has asked the Georgia Court of Appeals to prohibit certification of the vote as it tries to argue that the election should be declared invalid.

If it had been given the green light by its electorate, the spaceport would have become the 13th in the US allowed to launch private rockets.

“Right now they are guilty of ignoring the will of the voters,” said spaceport critic James Goodman.

“What they will do if they persist is to demonstrate utter contempt for the voters.”

Opponents, including the National Park Service, have claimed that the spaceport posed potential safety and environmental hazards.

The county had already secured a license to operate Spaceport Camden from the Federal Aviation Administration, but a judge ordered that the land purchase needed to be put to the vote after critics collected 3,5000 signatures for a special election.

Supporters of the project said it was a chance for the county of 55,000 people to join the private space industry, popularised by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

“Launches at Spaceport Camden would bring thousands of visitors and offer millions of dollars in economic activity to our restaurants, hotels and businesses,” said Jimmy Starline, a former chairman of the county commission.

But even if it had been approved and built, there is no guarantee of its commercial success as more than half of licensed US spaceports have never seen a launch, according to the Associated Press.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.