Video Story
Watch VideoSpace industry doing stellar
Story By: David Tauchen
Source: KOAA
Published Tue Apr 08, 2008, 06:49 PM MDT
Updated Tue Apr 08, 2008, 08:22 PM MDT
Despite all the troubling news from Wall Street recently, there's at least one industry that is doing well. Today the Space Foundation, based in Colorado Springs, released it's annual Space Report. It details some very healthy numbers and it's good news for Colorado--the nation's second biggest space economy.
"This is a good news report if you're in the space business and a really good news report if you're in the colorado space business," said Elliot Pulham, President and CEO of the Space Foundation.
Pulham says Colorado is represented in some of the fastest growing sectors of the space industry, like remote sensing and GPS.
As demand for these products and services increases, companys doing business here in Colorado are stepping up. "We expect our business to grow substantially in the next 3 to 5 years," said Bob Canty of Raytheon, which has extensive operations in Aurora and several offices in Colorado Springs.
In the areas of science and exploration, Colorado is front and center. Last year NASA spent $384 million in the state, according to NASA Associate Director Richard Gilbrech.
The shuttle's replacement, called the Orion project, is being designed by Lockheed Martin in Littleton. NASA expects to have the new vehicle flying by 2014. There are also plans for manned missions to the moon and mars.
The future outlook for the industry looks strong too. Experts expect growth to remain steady in 2008, fueled by increasing demand for new technology and consumer products like satellite TV and GPS. They say Colorado will continue its role as a space leader.
"The products and services that this industry producers are in very high demand," said Pulham. "The space industry continues to do well as we work our way out of this economic downturn."
