Moving NASA HQ from DC to Space Coast Still on Lawmakers’ Minds

As newly elected President Trump announced laid out his plans to reduce workforce and waste, Florida politicians began floating the idea to relocate NASA’s headquarters from Washington to Florida. That idea isn’t dead.

U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody, who filled Florida’s junior senate position vacated by now Secretary of State Marco Rubio, said Friday she’s still working with colleagues to make that a reality.

Speaking from the state’s aerospace economic development agency Space Florida’s offices in Brevard County at an event about Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” opening up tax-free bonds to the nation’s spaceports, she reminded the audience that it’s still on the state’s wish list.

“It should surprise no one that when I learned that NASA headquarters building in Washington was sitting empty and was only occupied by 15%, that we said, ‘Well, where is a better location for the United States NASA Headquarters than right here on Florida Space Coast?’ Because this is where the action is happening.” she said.

She noted Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station are responsible for 36% of the entire world’s launches. So far in 2025, Florida has sent up 58 orbital missions on track to surpass 100 for the year.

“This is where not only you have the military assets, but you have so many from the private sector that have come to create this incredible synergy where we’re seeing such progress and innovation and our accomplishments in space,” she said. “And so we’re working on that.”

She said she has partnered with U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, who represent part of Southwest Florida in the House, and they have met with NASA’s chief of staff to push the state’s case.

The former Florida Attorney General said her personality is one that she thinks could help with that effort, calling it “a particular brand of persistence, shall we say honed from a life of experience identifying problems, bringing new ideas, thinking outside the box and, you know, being incredibly annoying to those who could help met get things done and deliver results.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis first pushed the subject to the fore at a NASA event after talking with then Kennedy Space Center Director Janet Petro, who was soon after named interim NASA administrator.

“They have this massive building in Washington, D.C., and like nobody goes to it, so why not just shutter it and move everybody down here? I think they’re planning on spending like a half a billion to build a new building up in D.C. that no one will ever go to either,” DeSantis said. “So hopefully, with the new administration coming in, they’ll see a great opportunity to just headquarter NASA here on the Space Coast of Florida. I think that’d be very, very fitting.”

Space Florida CEO Rob Long agreed Friday the move could be a win-win for NASA and the state.

“I think when you look at it, it just makes sense,” he said. “This is the hub, as we just mentioned, for space activity, space operations, so having the headquarters here would make just a lot of logical sense.”

But Florida isn’t the only state pushing for the headquarters. Texas lawmakers including Sen. Ted Cruz have been vocal about bringing it to their own state. Already, they have proven their ability to upend at least one DC-based NASA asset and bring it to Texas. That happened with funds provided in Trump’s bill to move Space Shuttle Discovery from its home at the Smithsonian down to Houston.

Before recent job reduction moves, NASA headquarters employed nearly 2,500 people among its total workforce of nearly 18,000 civil employees. The agency also has its work spread out among 10 field centers including KSC, Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

If it were to come to the Space Coast, it would add to other recent moves that have added to the state’s workforce that includes the decision to place the headquarters for STARCOM, the Space Force training and readiness command, at Patrick Space Force Base.

While Long would be in favor of a NASA HQ move to Florida, it’s nowhere near a done deal.

“I think we’ve got tremendous leadership, and we’ll just have to watch the process work,” he said.

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