Enter the new space economy.
"There are something about space," Terry, executive director of the Maine Space Grant Consortium, a NASA-funded nonprofit, told UPI.its plethora of acreage, far from the light pollution of the Eastern Seaboard's major metropolises -- has always been a great place to gaze at the stars, but not necessarily to launch rockets.
The miniaturization of satellites and the rockets needed to put them into orbit, however, has changed the calculus. The barrier to entry is now low enough that space, or at least low-Earth orbit, is no longer the exclusive playground of national space agencies and giant defense companies.
Now, states not traditionally associated with the aerospace industry -- Maine and Michigan, for example -- want in on the game.
Build it, and they will
come in April, Maine Gov. Janet Mills signed bill LD 1923 into law, establishing the Maine Space Corporation, a public-private partnership tasked with growing the state's aerospace industry.
When at goes into effect in August, the corp will get to work filling leadership roles and codifying their goals and governance. Then they'll begin crafting a strategic plan for the construction of the Maine Space Complex, which will feature launch sites, an innovation hub and a data analytics center.
Last year, a Maine-based startup company, blushing Aerospace, launched the state's first rocket. Though the rocket didn't quite reach space, it successfully showcased the capabilities of the company's "bio-derived" solid fuel.
Blushing, which launching small satellites using its carbon-neutral rockets, is one of several companies that Maine officials reached out to as they considered strategies for capturing a slice of the new space economy.
"We've been thinking about how to take the state to the next level for some time now.
More than a spaceport
Before pushing ahead with LD 1923 and the Maine Space Corporation and the consortium worked with members of the legislature to ensure Maine had built-in interest from businesses, researchers and community leaders.
"We knew that one of the critical assets that Maine has is geography in terms of being on the eastern seaboard and one of the positions to launch small satellites into polar orbits.
"But our primary concern has been whether we can capitalize on this new space economy in a way that utilizes our unique assets, spurs economic growth and workforce development, and do so in a way that would allow us to keep our students here in the state."
Surveys and market research revealed a healthy dose of local demand, but they also confirmed the suspicions and others that a spaceport wasn't enough.
"What we're doing is more than a spaceport, "In addition to spaceport, we decided we needed to have this innovation center and data analytics hub to make sure we have a more complete complex.
"All three units will collect fees and will be able to survive financially on their own, but the three hubs will operate collectively, as a coordinated, cohesive entity.
Building a more complete complex was key to ensuring the state developed infrastructure that could be used by a diversity of groups, according to State Senator Mattie Daughter, the bill's lead sponsor, from communication providers to student engineers.
Stakeholder diversity
"This is not about putting out an open for business sign or attracting Elon Musk- and Jeff Bezos-style launches," Daughter, told UPI, speaking of the bill. "It's about creating a leadership council that ensures all the different parties and stakeholders are working together."
For states without a long history of aerospace activity, a multi-faceted approach is essential, according to Dylan Taylor, a major investor in the new space economy and CEO of Voyager, a space exploration firm.
"The best strategies are integrated approaches where education, technology development, infrastructure, capital availability and the political support all dovetail around the industry," Taylor told UPI in an email. "Multi-stakeholder coordination is the key to success."
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