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Colorado Space Industry Mobilizes to Play Role in Missions to Moon, Mars

Posted on: Tuesday, 23 November 2004, 18:00 CST

Nov. 23--Colorado's space industry, the nation's fourth largest, is gearing up to play a big role in President Bush's plan to take robots and humans back to the moon and eventually go to Mars.

Congress over the weekend funded a full $16.2 billion fiscal-year 2005 budget for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for the "Vision for Space Exploration," returning the space shuttle to flight and completing assembly of the international space station, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay announced.

Colorado companies and organizations last week won about $130 million out of $1 billion for projects to help send astronauts to the moon and Mars as part of the first round of funding. The funding was dependent on the fiscal-year 2005 NASA appropriation. The initial funding is not expected to create new jobs in Colorado, but bigger projects could.

"If you talk about the moon, Mars and beyond, the potential for Colorado companies, such as Lockheed, Boeing, Ball and some of the smaller companies to win new business, I think is huge," said Lt. Gov. Jane Norton.

The president first outlined the space exploration vision in January.

"Now that the president has been re-elected, there's immediate new emphasis on advancing his moon-Mars initiative," said Tim Huddleston, chairman of the board for the Aerospace Development Center, a nonprofit in Alabama. "We are so early in the process, there's so much there to be done, so there are plenty of opportunities. Companies need to be very assertive." The private sector as well as institutions such as the University of Colorado benefit from the enthusiasm for space exploration.

"It's going to be important for a state like Colorado to be positioning itself on the cutting edge of trying to respond to the initiative," Huddleston said.

Ball Aerospace has many technologies that could be applied to the new exploration vision, such as robotic missions, astronomy and planetary missions, spokeswoman Sarah Hoyt said.

Colorado Space Business Roundtable chairwoman Linda Strine said Colorado could move up in the rankings of space industries in the nation if companies here win more major contract awards out of the exploration vision.

Rocky Scott, president of the Greater Colorado Springs Economic Development Corp., said industry leaders are working with the state's congressional delegation to maximize the potential of aerospace.

"If you don't have help from your congressional delegation, someone else's congressional delegation will take the business away from you," Scott said. "Space is a huge industry in Colorado (that) just isn't going to be shipped overseas, so the strategic importance of space in Colorado's economy is high, and it's increasing." Industry and government officials think more should be done to position Colorado as a leader in aerospace, and they recently set up a new entity, the Colorado Space Coalition, to lobby for the industry.

Along with that step, the state has disbanded its space office. Former space representative Tim Fritz is advocating on behalf of the industry as part of the Colorado Institute of Technology.

The new coalition is teaming with the Space Foundation, the Colorado Space Business Roundtable, the state and the University of Colorado to organize an event called the Colorado Space Rendezvous, to be held Dec. 8 at the Colorado History Museum. Speakers will discuss the role of space in the economy and issues the industry faces.

Goals of the event are to increase awareness of the space presence in Colorado and a sense of community in the industry.

Companies in Colorado are "competitors on some level, but they're also teammates on others, especially for larger projects," said Steve Eisenhart, senior vice president of policy and public affairs for the Space Foundation, based in Colorado Springs. "What's good for one is good for all."

COLORADO CONTRACTS: Contract awards in the newly approved NASA budget to Colorado companies and institutions:

Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.

Amount: $14.12 million

Project: Hybrid parachute balloon systems to help return a spacecraft from the moon

Colorado School of Mines

Amount: $13.8 million

Project: Mitigation of dust and electrostatic accumulation for systems for missions to the moon and Mars

ITN Energy Systems Inc.

Amount: $9.89 million

Project: Thin-film solar cells on plastic

Lockheed Martin Corp.

Amount: $80.06 million

Project: System to create storage tanks, docking system for in-space assembly, propellant production for the moon and beyond, power systems for human exploration

University of Colorado

Amount: $12.27 million

Project: Microwave array receiver

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LMT, BA, BLL,

Source: The Denver Post

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