GENESYS and FSEC - a forgotten building’s forgotten past. Located outside Gate 3 of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station lies a small cluster of seemingly obscure buildings set back from the main road. Now home to SpaceX’s Launch and Landing control, the Air Force Space and Missile History Center, and other aerospace company offices, the complex was once the only academic institution capable of serving the highly trained engineers working on the missile programs.
Thousands of highly educated engineers moved to the space coast throughout the 1950s. However, with the nearest university more than three hours away in Gainsville, academic facilities necessary to refine and further their studies were not readily available
The University of Florida proposed a revolutionary way to maintain engineer’s skills while offering them advanced classes. Using a two way television system, students could participate in classes at the main university without making the drive to Gainsville. Known as the Graduate Engineering Education System, or GENESYS, a small campus was established just outside the main gate of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in 1963. Three buildings housed classrooms and the infrastructure necessary for the closed-loop TV system. A larger, fourth building served as an auditorium. GENESYS was the largest television educational system in the world at the time, and operated until its closure in 1974. After a short few months of laying empty, the newly-created Florida Solar Energy Center leased the site for test operations. A research branch of the University of Central Florida, FSEC was established to research practical applications of solar energy. The photos above are from when the site was under FSEC ownership. Classrooms were converted to offices and laboratories, and multiple support buildings were constructed throughout the site, FSEC moved out sometime in the mid 1990s, and the site laid dormant for many years. The complex was renovated in the mid 2000s when SpaceX and Space Florida leased the old classroom buildings for their operations. The Space and Missile History Center moved in the former auditorium building in 2010.