The Colorado Space Coalition is a partnership between the State of Colorado, the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce/Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation, the Colorado Springs Economic Development Corporation, the Aurora Economic Development Council, the Colorado Space Business Roundtable, members of the private sector, higher-education institutions and other stakeholders. The coalition is led by Lieutenant Governor Joseph Garcia, Major General Andy Love, USAF (Ret.), and Thomas Marsh, retired executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Space Systems.

The Coalition spans the entire state and represents diverse backgrounds—and united goals. The Coalition meets regularly to assess opportunities for industry growth in Colorado and to promote our space assets nationally and internationally.

Colorado has the second-largest space economy in the United States as measured by employment, with close to 164,000 space-related jobs, $2.8 billion in annual payroll and billions of dollars in annual revenue. Further, Colorado ranks first in the nation for private aerospace employment concentration. Colorado excels in launch vehicle, spacecraft and sensor manufacturing. Our state also competes in ground control, navigation, remote sensing and data dissemination navigation.

The space industry in Colorado is anchored by several U.S. Department of Defense space-command facilities, including North American Aerospace Defense Command, Air Force Space Command, Army Space Command and U.S. Northern Command in Colorado Springs and the 460th Space Wing at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora. Colorado hosts numerous federal laboratories, including National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, that produce outstanding space science as a result of federal funds, our research universities and Colorado-based private space companies.

For more information about the Colorado Space Coalition, call 303-620-8039 or www.spacecolorado.org.