Nichols Martin
Seattle-based space industry leaders have urged Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., to help establish a space center in Washington in response to the state’s lag behind other states, including California and Texas, Geekwire reported Friday.
Executives such as Aerospace Futures Alliance CEO Kelly Maloney and Aerojet Rocketdyne General Manager Ken Young voiced out their ideas as Hoyer promoted his Make It in America campaign at an event at the latter firm’s Redmond facility.
Space firms including Blue Origin, Stratolaunch Systems and SpaceX, like Aerospace Futures Alliance and Aerojet Rocketdyne, operate in Washington, with $1.8B generated in the industry; however, event attendees identified a gap in development behind other states.
“There’s just a lack of infrastructure here,†said Kristi Morgansen, interim chair of the University of Washington’s aeronautics and astronautics department.
Maloney pitched for the vacant Weyerhaeuser campus to be the site for the potential space center, while Young suggested Aerojet’s Redmond corporate campus to house the facility.
