CAPE CANAVERAL - Amid a push to lure space business to Florida, the state also needs to make certain it pays attention to its longstanding anchor tenant -- the military.

That was the message retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Jimmey Morrell delivered Thursday at Florida Space 2005, an aerospace-industry conference conducted at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

"You can't have a better customer," said Morrell, a Suntree resident and former commander of the Air Force's 45th Space Wing, which is headquartered at Patrick Air Force Base and oversees operations at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. "They just never go away."

The military staged its first launch from Cape Canaveral on July 24, 1950, sending a modified German V-2 missile on a test flight. Known then as the Long Range Proving Ground, the Air Force station has become the military's primary East Coast space launch site.

The Air Force's Eastern Range, which is based at Cape Canaveral, provides tracking, range safety and weather forecasting services for all launches -- including military, NASA and commercial missions -- from Florida's Space Coast.

A total of 3,345 major missile, rocket and shuttle launches have been carried out on the range, 45th Space Wing spokesman Ken Warren said.

The wing contributes about $1.2 billion to the Central Florida economy on an annual basis, Warren said.

Faced with the impending retirement of NASA's shuttle fleet in 2010, the state is aiming to lure new business to Florida.

NASA's moon rockets and its planned Crew Exploration Vehicle will be launched from Kennedy Space Center, but the state is trying to win associated assembly and integration work.

Space tourism and commercial freight and passenger service to the International Space Station also are emerging as markets the state would like to corner.

Morrell, however, noted the military has been an anchor tenant for state space business for more than a half-century.

"Don't forget them," he said. "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water."

With the war on terrorism ongoing around the world and a new focus on security at home and abroad, the national security space sector is expected to grow steadily in coming years.

"It is by no means a declining sector," said Ricardo Navarro, director of Boeing Delta launch operations at Cape Canaveral. "It's ramping up, and ramping up in a big way."

Contact Halvorson at 639-0576 or thalvorson@flatoday.net