The fact that we're a mile closer to space is just part of the story.
Metro Denver is second among the 50 largest metros for total private aerospace workers with 19,500 people employed at aerospace companies. Colorado has the nation's second-largest aerospace economy and is home to four military commands, eight major space contractors, and more than 400 aerospace companies and suppliers.
The nation's top aerospace contractors have significant operations in Metro Denver: Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., The Boeing Company, ITT Exelis, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Sierra Nevada Corporation, and United Launch Alliance. The Metro Denver and Northern Colorado region also has a strong cluster of companies involved in geospatial technologies, remote sensing, imaging, and related industries.
Metro Denver companies are leading the nation's most significant space contracts. Louisville-based Sierra Nevada Corporation is changing commercial space landscape with its Dream Chaser space transportation system, and Lockheed Martin in Littleton is developing the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle that could potentially carry astronauts into deep space.
Many of Colorado's aerospace companies played crucial roles in some of the most exciting NASA missions of 2011, including the Mars Science Laboratory and the Juno probe to Jupiter. Additionally, NASA awarded contracts totaling more than $1.5 billion to Colorado aerospace companies in 2010, earning the state a fourth-place ranking nationally. In late 2010, NASA forged a partnership with the Colorado Association for Manufacturing and Technology (CAMT) to establish the nation's first manufacturing park in Northern Colorado to commercialize aerospace and clean energy technologies.
In November 2011, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper announced the state's intent to pursue commercial spaceport designation at Adams County's Front Range Airport. Colorado is paving the way for horizontal launch facilities and a broad range of spaceport activity and commercial opportunities. Front Range Airport has begun the process of applying for a spaceport license, which could be granted by the Federal Aviation Administration by the end of 2012.
Along with major DoD, NASA, and commercial activities, Colorado is the U.S. center for military space. The state's four military commands—the primary customers for space-based research, development, acquisition, and operations—ensure industry growth.
The region's universities and research centers are leading the charge to educate the next generation of aerospace workers. The Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at CU Boulder is the most experienced university-based center in the world for all aspects of spacecraft operations and producing world-class science data products.
And there's support and advocacy for space through the Colorado Space Coalition, a group of stakeholders in Colorado's space industry whose volunteer efforts promote the industry regionally and nationally.
Here, you'll be part of a high-powered, established aerospace industry in a location that also happens to be a great place to live. In an atmosphere like this, it's no wonder that aerospace companies thrive and prosper at 5,280 feet.
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