Space Odyssey: Industry looks for lift-off.

• Author: Peterson, Eric
• Position: Funding the space industry

On October 18, 2001, a Delta II rocket cut across the midday sky above Vandenberg Air Force Base on the California coast.

THE LAUNCH WAS A SYNERGISTIC SHOWCASE FOR Colorado's space industry. The rocket took shape at Boeing's plant in Pueblo. Ball Aerospace manufactured the passenger -- a cutting-edge imaging satellite -- in Boulder County. And Ball's customer, the satellite owner, was DigitalGlobe, a Longmont-based remote sensing startup.

Colorado's space industry is a true linchpin in the state's high-tech economy.

Beyond NORAD, U.S. Space Command, and other components of the national defense infrastructure, commercial space entities abound, running the gamut from mom-and-pop operations to divisions of giants like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Raytheon.

Taking both government expenditures and space-related revenues into account, analysts have estimated that the local space economy is worth about $4 billion annually -- a figure overshadowed only by Florida, California and Texas. By 2010, the global space business is expected to triple in value, and Colorado's take could soar to $7 billion.

But economic-development types from Tallahassee to Juneau are constantly angling to reel in a portion of Colorado's wealth of civil and commercial space operations.

The Colorado state government historically has been labeled lackluster in its support of the space industry, but Gov. Bill Owens is looking to quash that perception. The first step: appointing a state space advocate later this year.

"We're in search mode," said Secretary of Technology Marc Holtzman. "It's clear to Gov. Owens that we must be more proactive. Opportunities are not going to fall out of the sky."

At press time, $207,500 in funding was in place for the office, a few checks shy of the $240,000 goal. Lockheed Martin Raytheon, Boeing, Ball, and TRW have pledged a total of $100,000 in funding, which will be bolstered by a $60,000 grant from the Colorado Economic Development Commission and $47,500 from various economic development entities.

The aggressive strategies of other states have essentially forced the issue.

"As with any competitive situation ... there's going to be folks who are interested in taking industry you have to their state," said Edgar Johansson, space liaison for the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade. "By not having an advocate, we run a higher risk."

Many analogous advocates are currently in place in other states, aggressively courting...