Florida Senator’s Bill Seeks to Move NASA Headquarters to the Sunshine State

Sen. Ashley Moody said the move would ‘bring stakeholders together.’ But it appears NASA won’t be packing its bags anytime soon. 

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Jan. 15, 2025. Gregg Newton / AFP via Getty Images

TITUSVILLE, Fla.—Florida’s newest senator is making her own push to have the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) move its headquarters from Washington to the state that has hosted its most historic launches.

Sen. Ashley Moody introduced the CAPE Canaveral Act, on March 13. Short for “Consolidating Aerospace Programs Efficiently at Canaveral,” it seeks to put NASA’s headquarters right next to Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, and the entire stretch of coastline that remains not only the busiest spaceport in the country but also the only one capable of and permitted to deliver human beings into orbit, the International Space Station and beyond.

“Florida is the leader in space exploration and aerospace innovation,” Moody wrote on X on March 13. “Establishing NASA’s headquarters within the space coast will bridge the bureaucracy gap from the top down and bring stakeholders together.”

It was co-sponsored by fellow Republican Sen. Rick Scott and appears to already have support from the lower chamber, getting shared by Florida Rep. Carlos Gimenez, also a Republican, who replied in agreement.

Moody joined the Senate at the appointment of Gov. Ron DeSantis after Sen. Marco Rubio vacated his seat to become secretary of state. The CAPE Canaveral Act is one of the first bills of her term, and it comes as private companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin continue to expand their presence and build their launch capabilities.

SpaceX, which is set to launch Crew-10 to the ISS this week, has already committed to bringing Starship launch capabilities to the historic complex 39A, and Blue Origin successfully launched its New Glenn rocket from Launch Pad 36 in January.

Leading the way in building Florida’s space economy has been the Space Florida agency. The Epoch Times has reached out to Space Florida for a comment on the bill.

“Florida is the gateway to space,” Moody said, “and this common-sense proposal would save taxpayers money, encourage collaboration with private space companies, and tap into Florida’s talented workforce to spur further innovation.

“As stewards of taxpayer dollars, we must ensure that any new building will be filled with employees—not empty like we have been seeing in Washington the last four years.”

However, NASA does not appear to be packing its bags anytime soon.

“NASA is not building a new headquarters,” a spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email. “The NASA Headquarters building lease is up in 2028, and the agency is looking at options to lease a new facility in the Washington area. In compliance with the Executive Order signed Jan. 20, NASA employees returned to full-time onsite work, effective as of Feb. 28.”