Space Industry Moves Forward in Colorado

I was talking to friends last week about an investment property they are buying in Loveland.  They mentioned they were excited about the prospects for the thousands of potential new jobs which could be created in Loveland by the ACE industrial park joint venture between NASA, the Colorado Association for Manufacturing and Technology and a private real estate developer.   My first reaction was that the park's future was uncertain because the original developer, United Properties, stopped its negotiations with the City of Loveland to buy the Agilent Technologies Inc property.  However, I was excited to learn that a new developer, Cumberland & Western Resources LLC is close to buying the property and moving the project forward.


The Space economy is very important to the Front Range and has prospects for future growth even beyond the ACE park.  According to the Colorado Space Coalition the aerospace industry in Colorado employees 163,000 people and the state has the 3rd largest space economy in the U.S.

Recently Governor Hickenlooper announced that the State of Colorado is applying for a spaceport designation from the Federal Aviation Administration.   "Spaceport Colorado" is tentatively slated to be located at Front Range Airport near Watkins and east of Denver in Adams County.  The creation of a spaceport in Metro Denver would likely promote economic and real estate development in the vicinity of the facility.

Both the ACE park and Spaceport Colorado will be very interesting to watch develop over the next few years.

ACE Manufacturing and Innovation Park Likely Coming to Loveland

Media Accounts are putting the CMAT Space Park site in Loveland (previous blog post here).

• Account from the Coloradan.


• The Reporter Herald's Story


• The view from the Daily Camera here and here.

Update: Aerospace Park A Real ACE for Colorado

My instincts tell me that if the Aerospace Clean Energy (ACE) research and manufacturing park, the public private partnership between NASA, and the Colorado Association for Manufacturing and Technology "takes off" (pun intended) this would be one of the biggest economic development events ever to occur in Colorado. There will be many challenges along the way and this will be a fascinating story to watch unfold.

• The indispensable John Rebchook has an interesting update in a recent blog entry on the ACE Manufacturing and Innovation Park.

• The Denver Post also had a recent article about the locations under consideration by the site selection team.