A new era for aerospace and defense has been emerging — and Huntsville, Alabama is capitalizing on it.
have all been constructing or expanding space-related facilities within the past two years.
Huntsville "has this great receptacle of talent there that you can tap into, and it's been decades in building. So we wanted to go to where the talent is," says Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith. "You get great support from the government, so everyone from Gov. [Kay] Ivey to Sen. [Richard] Shelby all the way down to Mayor [Tommy] Battle ... have been great supporters of actually developing the space economy there.
"Our top priority right now is focusing on the Space Launch System, which is the next heavy lift vehicle that is required to take the Orion capsule, that takes our astronauts into space to the moon, and be able to deliver the systems that are required to support them," says Jody Singer, Marshall Space Flight Center director.
"I do think they have some natural advantages which they built over the years with railway infrastructure and with the highway system running right through there," says Scott Wine, chief executive and chairman of Polaris, Inc. "But really I think the longstanding commitment to engineering that's been in Huntsville for so many years — since World War II, really — there's really just a good infrastructure of personnel there.
"I think one of the reasons we've been as successful ... you can call it picky. We call it selective," says the Chamber of Commerce's Cherry. "There are certain types of companies we do not pursue, and we're also looking for companies that have a track record of being good corporate citizens." Lockheed Martin recently broke ground on its new two-building Advanced Hypersonic Manufacturing facility in Courtland, on the city's outskirts. So far Lockheed has snagged some $3.5 billion in contracts to develop prototypes.
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