{"id":18306,"date":"2018-10-20T01:09:20","date_gmt":"2018-10-19T17:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/seattle-space-leaders-make-their-pitch-to-lawmakers-for-a-new-rocket-test-facility\/"},"modified":"2018-10-20T01:09:20","modified_gmt":"2018-10-19T17:09:20","slug":"seattle-space-leaders-make-their-pitch-to-lawmakers-for-a-new-rocket-test-facility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/seattle-space-leaders-make-their-pitch-to-lawmakers-for-a-new-rocket-test-facility\/","title":{"rendered":"Seattle space leaders make their pitch to lawmakers for a new rocket test facility"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Hoyer,
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash, get a tour of Aerojet Rocketdyne\u2019s campus in Redmond, Wash., from the facility\u2019s general manager, Ken Young. (GeekWire Photo \/ Alan Boyle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

REDMOND, Wash. \u2014 One of Congress\u2019 leading Democrats, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, met with leaders of the Seattle area\u2019s space community today to make a pitch for his \u201cMake It in America\u201d campaign. They pitched back with an idea of their own: \u201cTest It in Washington State.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Puget Sound region is quickly becoming known as a hub for space ventures such as Blue Origin, founded by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos; and Stratolaunch Systems, created by the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. SpaceX, Spaceflight Industries and LeoStella have a growing presence here as well.<\/p>\n

Predating them all is Aerojet Rocketdyne, which traces its lineage in Redmond back to the 1960s and has built thrusters for a wide spectrum of NASA spacecraft \u2014 including the Mars Insight lander that\u2019s due to touch down on the Red Planet next month.<\/p>\n

Washington state\u2019s space industry currently generates $1.8 billion worth of economic activity annually, according to a recently published report. But during today\u2019s session at Aerojet\u2019s Redmond facility, headlined by Hoyer as well as Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., several attendees noted that Washington is lagging behind other states such as California, Texas and Florida in one big area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s just a lack of infrastructure here,\u201d said Kristi Morgansen, interim chair of the University of Washington\u2019s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. She said UW\u2019s engineering students have to travel as far away Bend in central Oregon, a seven-hour drive from Seattle, to conduct their rocket tests.<\/p>\n

Curt Blake, president of Seattle\u2019s Spaceflight Industries, noted that the nearest NASA center is Ames Research Center in California. Blue Origin currently builds its BE-4 rocket engines at its headquarters in Kent, Wash., but has to test them in West Texas. Stratolaunch is testing its PGA rocket engine in Mississippi. And Ken Young, general manager of Aerojet\u2019s Redmond facility, said his company\u2019s electric propulsion thrusters have to go to NASA\u2019s Glenn Research Center in Ohio for testing.<\/p>\n

The solution? How about building a full-fledged rocket test facility in Washington?<\/p>\n