image by David Corrigan

(BIVN) – An informational meeting was held Wednesday evening in Hilo to introduce the public to a new spaceport proposal.

The Alaska Aerospace Corporation wants to develop a Pacific Spaceport Complex-Hawaiʻi, or PSCH, on Shipman lands in Keaʻau and is beginning the state and federal environmental assessment process for the project. The spaceport would “support commercial small vertical launch vehicle capability for inserting small payloads from the east side of the Island of Hawaiʻi into equatorial and low-inclination orbits.”

A crowd of interested residents overflowed the Grand Naniloa Resort space, where display easels lined the room and consultants answered questions. Some attendees wrote their comments down on paper, others expressed their opposition directly to the project executives, while others sang songs of resistance.

The meeting was part of a scoping session, which will help Alaska Aerospace identify significant issues for consideration to be analyzed in the PSCH environmental assessment. Next, the project team will collect data “to contribute to the determination of the likely environmental impacts (including socioeconomics) of the option for constructing and operating a commercial spaceport for small low-inclination/equatorial flights.”

After that, a draft Environmental Assessment will be prepared, and an opportunity for public comment.