Bowen is hoping to launch a new rocket test facility, but the environmental impact might send the plans crashing to earth.
By 2022 if all goes to plan, a site south of the Abbot Point coal terminal will be launching rockets carrying nanosatellites into space.
However Professor Steven Moore, from Central Queensland University, said the impact to wildlife and the nearby Great Barrier Reef may be the biggest mark against Bowen as the project site.
"[The environment] is definitely a concern and shouldn't be dismissed out of hand," he said.
"You need to put it in terms of relative impacts, Kennedy Space Centre is a huge wildlife reserve and it has the largest breeding population of bald eagles in the United States.
"They [rocket launches] can co-exist with nature."
Dr Moore said because the rockets are powered by hydrogen, in the worst case scenario of a rocket exploding mid-launch and landing on the reef, there would be minimal impact.
"You'd have a 2–6 metre long debris, and some water," he said.
"At Abbott Point you've got massive coal ships going in and out, relatively speaking I think the impact is controllable."
Bowen in prime place to benefit from rocket launches
Andrew Wilcox, Mayor of Whitsunday Regional Council, said the launch site is optimal for its placement, as it is close to the equator, making launches cheaper.
"Bowen is a go because of the latitude, clear skies and we've got the open water there at the state development area," he said.
"Because of the earth's rotation, you can fire a rocket out and it actually picks up speed as the earth spins so they get to carry less fuel and more pay load, so happy days."
Mr Wilcox said the council is hoping Bowen will become the Cape Canaveral of tropical Queensland.
"The tourism potential of that — to actually come and have look at one of these rockets getting fired off," he said.
Mr Wilcox said the State Government is investing some money, but the hope is private investment will fuel the space centre.
"Well they've got some money for the feasibility studies and those sorts of things, I'm pretty sure the group that's looking at it are pretty cashed up," he said.
"In 2018, the space industry was worth $350 billion and by 2040 it's going to be over $1.1 trillion, so if we can get a slab of that for the Whitsundays, we're in."
