The “local opposition” is about six rich lawyers who don’t want anything to change near their plush beach retreats. It’s not the rocket launches they object to (although that’s their public stance)… it’s the economic development that would come from a spaceport. Everything from paved roads to satellite assembly facilities to McDonald’s to feed the workers.

Add in the typical BANANA fellow travelers (“Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything”… worse than NIMBY) and you get a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing.

Once all that has blown over… yes, there are ridiculous number of spaceports being licensed. “More spaceports than launch vehicles,” as the joke goes. But how many of those spaceports allow equatorial or low-inclination launches over ocean, without tangling with military-controlled airspace? And how many have direct rail, Interstate highway, and deep-water port accessibility, with two international airports within an hour’s drive?

Spaceport Camden is the only opportunity we will probably ever have to build a brand-new East Coast orbital launch facility. Let’s not dismiss it quite so quickly.