by Daniel Stefanski | Feb 18, 2025 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
A coalition of Arizona lawmakers have set their eyes on space.
Three Arizona legislators recently transmitted a letter of commitment to the Southwest Regional Aerospace Innovation Alliance’s pending application to the National Science Foundation (NSF) “for funding to develop Yuma as the nation’s next commercial and industrial spaceport.” The lawmakers were State Representatives Justin Wilmeth and Michele Peña, and Senator Tim Dunn.
According to the press release issued by the coalition, the “creation of a Yuma-based spaceport would strengthen national security, boost economic growth, and drive advancements in space exploration, generat[ing] $2 billion in annual economic activity, create thousands of jobs, and establish a strategic hub for commercial space launches and innovation.”
In a statement that accompanied the announcement of the letter, Representative Wilmeth said, “With the new Trump administration prioritizing spaceflight and economic expansion, Arizona is ready to play a leading role. House Republicans urge state and federal officials to support the Alliance’s NSF application, ensuring long-term investment in space exploration and economic growth. Arizona has an opportunity to help drive American innovation and prosperity.”
Representative Peña added, “Yuma is the ideal location for the next spaceport, offering advantages unmatched by any costal alternative. With optimal weather, proximity to military and defense assets, pro-business policies, a skilled workforce, and exclusive launch directionality over the Sea of Cortex, it is the smartest and most efficient choice.”
Senator Dunn also weighed in, saying, “Yuma continues to be leaders in innovation. I ran the legislation several years ago and am proud to support this collaboration and encourage its selection.”
The letter highlights that Arizona passed HB 2423 in 2019 “to promote commercial space flight activities in Arizona ‘through the launch of stratospheric, suborbital and orbital missions’ and to ‘promote the creation of space infrastructure in Arizona to increase economic development.’”
The lawmakers also noted that just last year, the state legislature approved HB 2254 to “establish the Arizona Space Commission and Arizona Space Exploration and Aeronautics Research Fund to support the development of emerging technologies in human space flight, the development of a skilled labor workforce for commercial spaceflight and space commerce, and the development of infrastructure for establishing and maintaining a spaceport in Arizona.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Matthew Holloway | Dec 10, 2024 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Arizonans, treated with the spectacle of satellite launches from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base near Santa Barbara just over 500 miles away, may soon be able to enjoy the view from launches much closer to home in Yuma.
The Arizona city is reportedly working to bring another spaceport to Arizona, buoyed by interest from commercial launch companies seeking a new launch site, according to interim City Administrator Jay Simonton.
As reported by AZ Family, Simonton said “These smaller companies are needing to test their equipment. The market is dominated by the big guys so in Cape Canaveral, (Florida), and California, they can’t get time or space to launch.” He told the outlet that the spaceport would be geared toward providing services to these smaller firms who are effectively squeezed out from larger facilities on the coastlines of Florida, California and Texas.
“We’re talking about very small rockets to launch small commercial satellites for research,” he added.
“Yuma is an ideal location. We are really close to the Sea of Cortez and then we have the Pacific Ocean. It’s a perfect location to launch solar polar orbits. If this comes into fruition, all the launches would launch over the Sea of Cortez and over the Pacific Ocean,” said Simonton.
Yuma is also home to a robust aeronautical infrastructure and controlled airspace as the site of Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, the U.S. Army’s Yuma Proving Ground, and the adjacent Barry M. Goldwater Range, managed jointly by the U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, and Army.
The Greater Yuma Economic Development Corp, received a grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration for a land feasibility study to prove Yuma County’s ability to house a spaceport in early 2020.
According to the outlet Yuma estimates that the new spaceport, attracting firms from one of the fast growing industries in the world, would create more than 2,000 jobs and drive approximately $2 billion in growth.
“You bring in those high-tech operations, that brings in high-tech jobs and higher paying jobs,” Simonton said.
As it stands: Yuma is working to obtain an operating license from the Federal Aviation Administration and is seeking outside investors and grants to launch the spaceport’s development. The city was also selected as a finalist for a National Science Foundation Engines Program alongside 71 other teams including the Arizona cities Nogales, Sierra Vista, San Luis, and Somerton. As leader of the Southwest Regional Aerospace Innovation Alliance it could receive up to $160 million over 10 years toward building the spaceport.
Simonton also noted there is support from the project on the state level and cited support from Democrat Senator and former astronaut Mark Kelly. “We’ve had discussions with our senator, Sen. (Mark) Kelly. He’s a former astronaut. He is very interested in this project and very supportive of that. He would love something like this to come to Arizona,” he told AZ Family.
In a post to X, Interorbital Systems announced that the firm has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Yuma “to conduct NEPTUNE orbital rocket launches from the new Arizona spaceport.”
Yuma Mayor Doug Nicholls told KYMA that the development is a major step for a potential new industry in Yuma. “It changes the way one the world perceives us, but two the industries that to want to locate here, so those that are building rockets and those that are building that industry are going to want to be close to where the launches happen.”
Nicholls also stressed that the city would need to work closely with Mexico to make launches work saying, “We’ve got to communicate with them, let them know what we’re doing, make sure they’re comfortable with that because as I showed the council those rockets will be heading south over Mexico, over the Gulf of California and over the Pacific Ocean.”
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
