POTUS proposes Kennedy Space Center for the world’s 11th air show—the first in America
Wouldn’t be grand to have an Air Show, like Paris, Farnborough, Dubai, on the soil of the birthplace country of aviation? Such a spectacular event will attract “hundreds of thousands of visitors… generate billions of dollars in economic impact and host hundreds of billions of dollars in deals,” so says POTUS at a recent event at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC).
Indeed, that would be fantastic, BUT[1]…
►KSC’s campus is hardly a green field with a large plot of undeveloped land. Its location includes environmentally sensitive land, residential communities line its Western border and its operation are between one of the most
heavily trafficked commercial airspace on its ocean side plus a general aviation corridor over the land.
►NASA’s current KSC Master Plan, written before this announcement, specifically makes it clear that the campus and environment, requires a “phased construction, demolition[2], renovation and infrastructure improvements.
► NASA’s own 2026 planning material identifies existing or anticipated constraints involving:
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- electrical power;
- wastewater;
- gaseous nitrogen and liquid oxygen;
- propellant infrastructure;
- stormwater;
- roads and bridges.
NASA specifically says the KSC/Cape wastewater treatment facility is at capacity and describes other infrastructure investments needed to support increasing NASA and partner activity.
► Space Florida reports that the LLF had more than 400 landings and departures in 2023, supporting NASA Commercial Crew and other missions as well as commercial activity. It is also developing tenant and industrial activity around the field.
►NASA says KSC launch and processing activity is at historically high levels.
► NASA’s Master Plan says only a relatively small part of KSC’s roughly 140,000 acres is suitable for development.
► NASA’s own 2026 planning material identifies existing or anticipated constraints involving:
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- electrical power;
- wastewater;
- gaseous nitrogen and liquid oxygen;
- propellant infrastructure;
- stormwater;
- roads and bridges.
►The Air Show would cause considerable KSC disruptions during the typical five days it’s open, but the longer and more demanding pre- and post– REQUIREMENTS, such as the exhibition campus starts being occupied and assembled by the exhibitors and their contractors, even more disruptive as larger exhibits are delivered via controlled ground entrances; the runways are filled with the delivery of the Show planes. The removal of all the materials add more interference with the KSC normal operations. These are essential and labor-intensive projects like:
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- utility backbone;
- fiber/communications;
- selected apron improvements;
- security entrances
- limited roadway improvements;
- principal exhibition halls
- chalets;
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- grandstands;
- restaurants;
- hospitality tents;
- additional media facilities;
- ticketing infrastructure;
- pedestrian circulation;
- temporary parking/shuttle facilities.
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Air Shows are marquees of this industry. Flashy and highly visible, but little to do with sales. As a frequent attendee of these events has said:
“I am a fan of air shows, but I understand why to some they seem like lavish relics of a pre-Zoom/pre-COVID-19 age. The Le Bourget site and other air shows might have an image problem: The public associates them with flashy announcements of jetliner orders that were negotiated beforehand and followed by expensive, well-catered receptions. But the perception that this comprises the bulk of air show business is incorrect…”
To paraphrase an advertising industry saying, HALF OF ALL AIR SHOW SPENDING IS WASTED, BUT NOBODY KNOWS WHICH HALF.”
A couple of anecdotal reasons why KSC might not receive an immensely positive response from the exhibitors who pay for these sojourns to world class destinations (all 10 of them)
- As noted above, these are not the sites where business is done by the big companies. Most contracts were sold well before Day #1 of the show; the announcements are a form of public self-aggrandizement
- The obligatory customer entertainment is extravagantly expensive—it’s a competitive thing, but whether our champagne won a client over the other OEM’s caviar is as Mr. Aboulafia has mentioned at best an unknown and more likely not very bottom line directed.
- The attractions of the Space Coast do not measure up to the Left Bank of the Seine, the London Theater District or Dubai’s glitzy shopping malls, towering skyscrapers, and golden dunes of the desert. Maybe more of a magnet would be to have DJT as the airport site with Mar-a-Lago as the US equivalent of Paris???
President Trump promises USA will host ‘biggest’ air show within two years
By Jon Hemmerdinger | 7 November 2026
The event is to be recurring and held at NASA’s Shuttle Landing Facility near Cape Canaveral in Florida.
The United States WITHIN TWO YEARS[3] will host near Cape Canaveral what President Donald Trump describes as the world’s largest air show, an event he says will cater to all sectors of the aviation and space industries, facilitate major aerospace deals and top other global exhibitions.
NASA administrator Jared Isaacman [4]revealed the planned recurring event on 6 November at the Kennedy Space Center, then introduced President Trump, who discussed his vision for the show.
“We will have WITHIN TWO YEARS the biggest air show – that means commercial, that means space, which means everything – in the world by far. It won’t even be close,”
Trump says.
“For decades, the world’s major aerospace shows have been held overseas, from Paris to the United Kingdom to Dubai. Those foreign air shows have drawn the biggest crowds and the BIGGEST CONTRACTS[5],” he adds. “We are going to do it bigger and better – grander even than Paris.”
Trump also hints at the potential that a new commercial aircraft could be revealed at the planned exhibition, saying, “It has been more than 30 years since a new airliner was unveiled at [a] show on American soil… We believe that the future of those industries should be unveiled right here in the USA.”
Few details about the plan are known, but Trump laid out broad strokes.
The exhibition will be held at NASA’s Shuttle Landing Facility, part of the Kennedy Space Center, near Cape Canaveral – a site with a 4,572m (15,000ft) runway on which the Space Shuttle once landed.
Operated by Space Florida, the state’s aerospace development agency, the Shuttle Landing Facility has one of the world’s longest runways. Source: NASA
“The Shuttle Landing facility will be transformed into a 1,900-ACRE VENUE that will bring HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF VISITORS EACH YEAR, GENERATE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN ECONOMIC IMPACT AND HOST HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN DEALs,” Trump says.
The president has been a staunch advocate for the US aerospace industry, particularly during his second term, having helped bring more resources to NASA and urged foreign nations to order Boeing jets – support that has helped the US aircraft maker sell hundreds of jets.
The US government created the US Space Force in 2019 during Trump’s first term. In August 2026, Trump signed a policy laying out a strategy to “reinvigorate” US space technology and an executive order creating the US Space Academy.
[1] A conjunction not currently recognized by the #47 Administration.
[2] Likely not needed for the Air Show’s needed infrastructure enhancements.
[3] AI Copilot: NASA’s present planning philosophy itself argues against that. Its Master Plan looks 20 years into the future, with projects proceeding in phases depending upon mission requirements, funding, regulation, and environmental review. [nasa.gov]And NASA has completed a programmatic environmental assessment for that phased development framework. [netspublic…c.nasa.gov], [netspublic…c.nasa.gov]A huge airshow construction surge would run contrary to the logic of that incremental development.
[4] Jared “Rook” Isaacman is the 15th Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Isaacman grew up in New Jersey as the youngest of the four children of Donald and Sandra Marie Isaacman. Fascinated by aviation and space, Isaacman discovered a passion that would define his career. Sensing an opportunity in the burgeoning world of digital markets, Isaacman left high school at the age of 16 to found United Bank Card, a payment processing company, from his parents’ basement. The company was later renamed Shift4. Shift4 now serves hundreds of thousands of businesses across the globe. In 2020, Shift4 went public, and in 2025, Isaacman left his role as CEO.
Isaacman’s entrepreneurial spirit extended to aerospace. In 2011, Isaacman co-founded Draken International, which provides training to U.S. military pilots. The company currently services and manages one of the world’s largest private fleets of fighter jets. Outsourcing this critical role to the private sector has saved taxpayers billions of dollars. Isaacman sold the company in 2019.
Outside of work, Isaacman is a skilled pilot with over 8,000 flight hours. He is flight-qualified in multiple military jets, has flown in over 100 airshows, an Honorary Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, and has set numerous world speed records in 2009 while raising funds for the Make-A-Wish®.
[5] FEW AIR-SHOW ANNOUNCEMENT involve brand-new contract negotiated during the show. They are rather public-announcement venue and ceremonial signing opportunity, rather than the place where negotiations were completed. for analyzing the business value of Paris, Farnborough, Dubai, or Singapore, “$X billion in orders announced at the show” is more accurately entitled “$X billion in business generated by the show. Bragging rites
