The effort to establish a horizontal launch spaceport and surrounding tech corridor at the Paso Robles airport is advancing, with weekly planning meetings and a letter of interest from a Florida-based space plane company set to go before the City Council in February.
REACH strongly supports the effort, as expressed in a recent letter to the Mayor’s Office, both as a forward-looking way to diversify the city’s economy and job base and as a complement to wider work building the regional commercial space industry.
As the spaceport proposal wends through the FAA designation process, work on the tech corridor is progressing on several fronts, including:
- talks with space and related tech companies about establishing local operations
- the expansion of high-speed fiber throughout the corridor
- collaboration with Cuesta College and Cal Poly on technical training and workforce development programs
- a project with Cal Poly’s DxHub and aerospace engineering program to map out the full ecosystem of companies related to spaceport and spaceplane operations
- redevelopment of the old boys school as an upscale, mixed-use hub called The Landing and other development projects.
“The development of the Paso Robles Spaceport will create a second major industry in our city complementing the wine/tourism trade,” Mayor Steve Martin said. “A horizontal launch facility for future space commerce will broaden and deepen our job base and make our local economy more durable and resilient. It will dovetail with efforts to increase the housing stock and improve traffic circulation projects. We are excited to work with REACH in order to make a major contribution to their regional economic development efforts. The planets are aligned, the countdown has begun. Paso Robles is reaching for the stars.”
Also in the stratosphere:
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“It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see that Vandenberg is a remarkable opportunity for us”: Fast Company explores the commercial space industry’s renewed focus on Vandenberg Space Force Base, noting efforts by REACH and our many regional partners.
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“All forecasts are pointing to increased launch rates”: Air Force Magazine details the vision for a national spaceport at Vandenberg.
