Florida has a lot riding on the future of manned spaceflight. The successful commercial launch of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center earlier this month lifts hopes that the Sunshine State will remain a major player in space -- even amid concerns about President Barack Obama's realignment of NASA.

Sunshine State News' Kenric Ward interviewed John Gedmark, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF), about privatization of America's space effort -- and Florida's role in it.

Ward: Rate Florida's potential and capacity to compete for space business. Who are Florida's biggest rivals in this arena?

Gedmark: CSF is proud to include Space Florida (the spaceport authority and economic development organization) as a member, and Space Florida's CEO Frank DiBello is highly regarded throughout the industry as being able to attract and retain new businesses. Florida also has the instant brand recognition of 50 years of space history. With that said, states such as Virginia, New Mexico, and California have been very successful in convincing entrepreneurial space companies to set up shop in those states, both for manufacturing facilities and as launch sites. So Florida will need to work at full speed in order to ensure that it can remain competitive in the new "commercial space race."

Ward: Are other states and localities better equipped to facilitate the kind of commercialization program your group advocates? Who, why and how?

Gedmark: The industry is in flux, and many states are in a position to potentially capitalize on new industry developments. Of course, many commercial space companies such as SpaceX and United Launch Alliance already have significant facilities in Florida.

Ward: Florida recently approved incentives for the economic development along the Space Coast. Is the state doing all it can to attract, retain and grow its space-related industry? What could/should it do?

Gedmark: Probably the single most important thing that Florida could do to grow its commercial space industry would be to adopt a positive public stance toward commercial space activities. The public stance of state officials and other Florida leaders is one of the areas where industry leaders reason they will look when deciding where to bring their private investment, new facilities, and jobs.

Ward: Florida's politicians and labor unions have criticized the Obama administration for creating a "gap" in heavy-lift launch capability, manned flight and deep-space exploration with the cancellation of the Constellation program. Is this a fair criticism? Why/why not?

Gedmark: The new plan will actually accelerate the arrival of heavy-lift compared to the old plan. According to the Augustine committee, under the old plan heavy-lift would not have arrived until the late 2020's without a huge new infusion of dollars into NASA's budget -- an increasingly unlikely event under the nation's current fiscal constraints.