Space Florida Financial Toolkit

Space Florida Financial Toolkit — Financing

Offers Florida aerospace firms financial structuring support through state-backed financing tools and public spaces.

Eligibility · United States · US-FL

Space Florida is a public-purpose aerospace economic development authority created in 2006 by the Florida Legislature, with a mission to attract, retain, and grow aerospace industries within Florida. Its Financial Toolkit is a suite of deal-by-deal financing instruments available on a rolling basis to aerospace and aviation companies operating in or relocating to Florida. Unlike a competitive grant programme, there is no application pool, deadline, or scoring rubric — each deal is individually negotiated with Space Florida's business development team.

The core instruments include conduit bond issuance, in which Space Florida acts as a conduit issuer of tax-exempt or taxable bonds that provide aerospace companies with quick and economical access to capital for facilities, equipment, and tooling. Synthetic leasing converts upfront capital expenditures into operating expenses, offering financial and tax-structuring flexibility. Tax efficiency tools include ad valorem (property) tax exemptions, sales tax exemptions, and federal income tax asset depreciation benefits, with state-level exemptions processed through the Florida Department of Revenue. The Special Dirt provision allows companies to secure property and infrastructure rights on government-owned land — federal, state, or local — for commercial aerospace purposes; it applies to building facilities only, not equipment.

Eligibility is limited to for-profit aerospace and aviation companies; universities, nonprofits, and non-aerospace businesses are not supported. Space Florida has generated $5.9 billion in economic impact since 2007 and supported $3.3 billion in private spaceport investment. Companies interested in any of these instruments should contact businessdev@spaceflorida.gov to initiate a conversation; no public application form exists.