As newly elected President Trump announced he had cut plans to cut his workforce and waste, Florida politicians began to come up with the idea of moving NASA headquarters from Washington to Florida. That idea is not dead.
Senator Ashley Moody, who has now filled the Florida Senate position, who has been left by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, said Friday that she is still working with her colleagues to make it happen.
Speaking from the state’s Aerospace Economic Development Agency’s Florida office in Brevard County, she reminded the audience that she is still on the state’s wish list, talking about the event about Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”
“No one should be surprised when they learn that the NASA headquarters building in Washington sits in the sky and is only 15% occupying, because this is where the action is going,” she said.
She noted that Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station are responsible for 36% of global launches. So far, Florida has put 58 orbital missions on track in 2025, surpassing 100 that year.
“This has created this incredible synergy that not only has military assets, but there are many people from the private sector who are looking at these advancements, innovations, and achievements in space,” she said. “And we’re working on that.”
She said she partnered with US Rep. Byron Donald, who represents parts of southwestern Florida in the House and met with NASA Chief of Staff to advance the state’s case.
The former Florida Attorney General believes her personality can help with that effort, and says, “it’s a brand of tenacity, that she’s a certain brand of tenacity, that she can identify problems, bring new ideas, think outside the box and knows it’s incredibly annoying to those you know.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis first brought subjects to the forefront at the NASA event after speaking with then-Kennedy Space Center Director Janet Petro.
“They have this massive building in Washington, DC. No one will go to it, because why not close everyone here and move everyone here? “So, when the new administration comes in, they’ll see a great opportunity to be at NASA headquarters on Florida’s space shore. I think that’s very fitting.”
Space Florida CEO Rob Long agreed on Friday that it could be a good advantage for both NASA and the state.
“When you see it, I think it just makes sense,” he said. “This is a hub for space activities, space operations, as mentioned earlier. So having a head office here can have a lot of logical meaning.”
However, Florida is not the only state that promotes headquarters. Texas lawmakers, including Sen. Ted Cruz, have been speaking out about bringing it to their own state. Already, they have proven their ability to overturn at least one DC-based NASA asset and bring it to Texas. It happened with funds provided in Trump’s bill, moving the discovery of the space shuttle from the Smithsonian home to Houston.
Before the recent employment cuts moved, NASA headquarters employed around 2,500 of its total workforce of approximately 18,000 private employees. The agency also has its work spread to 10 field centers, including the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
Coming to Space Coast, it will be added to other recent moves added to the state’s workforce, including the decision to place the headquarters of Starcom, Space Force Training and Readiness Command, located at Patrick Space Force Base.
I’m in favor of the NASA HQ move to Florida for a long time, but that’s not nearly a completed transaction.
“I think we have an incredible leadership and we need to see the work of the process,” he said.
