Florida Wants Space Investment: Florida Gov. Jeb Bush wants $55 million from the state legislature to keep the state competitive in the space arena, the Tallahassee Democrat reports. NASA plans to retire the space shuttle fleet around 2010, and there is no guarantee that the next space launch vehicle(s) would call Florida home. Bush would use approximately $35 million of the budget request to renovate buildings to house shuttle-replacement Crew Exploration Vehicle operations.
The new defense reconciliation bill includes $7.2 billion for Air Force and Navy aviation accounts, almost half of which will buy more F-15EXs. While electronic warfare, drones, connectivity and airlift all get attention, the F-35 was conspicuously absent from the package, with no explanation given.