WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds and U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody are main a bicameral push to speed up the modernization of Cape Canaveral’s Area Launch Complicated 37 — a traditionally important heavy-lift launch pad at the moment sitting idle because of outdated infrastructure.
In a proper letter despatched to Secretary Troy Meink of the U.S. Air Drive, Donalds and Moody urged the Division of the Air Drive to expedite approval for the development of recent, next-generation launch infrastructure. Whereas demolition of the outdated SLC-37 services has been permitted beneath a categorical exclusion, the letter requires quick authorization of reconstruction efforts to revive the positioning to operational readiness.
Cape Canaveral SLC-37 is a launch pad that was traditionally used for heavy-lift launches.
It now sits idle because of bureaucratic red-tape.
I am proud to guide the bicameral effort alongside @SenAshleyMoody to revive and modernize SLC-37 to make sure continued American house dominance. pic.twitter.com/JeUKkt9bTT
— Congressman Byron Donalds (@RepDonaldsPress) July 28, 2025
The lawmakers emphasised the strategic significance of the positioning of their joint letter.
“The USA’ assured entry to house is foundational to nationwide safety,” the letter reads. “With launch demand surging throughout navy, intelligence, and civil packages, it’s important that legacy infrastructure like Area Launch Complicated 37 is effectively modernized to help next-generation methods.”
Donalds and Moody argued that delaying building till a full environmental influence assertion is accomplished could be a “procedural barrier that serves no environmental profit” and would hurt the Division’s skill to ship important infrastructure in a well timed method.
They pointed to prior company choices — together with the Air Drive’s personal findings of no important influence for comparable tasks at close by SLC-41 and Patrick Area Drive Base — as precedent for shifting ahead beneath the present CATEX with out additional delay.
The letter additionally cites latest federal steerage and authorized rulings to help their request, together with the Fiscal Duty Act of 2023, Govt Order 14154, and the Supreme Court docket’s 2025 ruling in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, which reaffirmed the procedural nature of NEPA and company discretion in undertaking evaluate.
“Authorizing building now doesn’t dictate or constrain any future use resolution,” the lawmakers wrote. “As a substitute, it permits DAF to reclaim strategic infrastructure in a well timed, lawful, and environmentally accountable method, precisely as envisioned by latest reforms to NEPA.”
Donalds and Moody mentioned restoring SLC-37’s heavy-lift capabilities is important to sustaining America’s management in house amid rising worldwide competitors, notably from China.
The hassle comes as Donalds, who can also be working for governor of Florida, seeks to strengthen the state’s position as a pacesetter in aerospace and protection. His workplace mentioned the modernization of SLC-37 aligns with broader objectives to “unleash American innovation and nationwide safety capabilities in orbit and past.”
