Colorado is known for having the country’s second-largest aerospace industry and figures compiled by the state shows it had what is believed to be a record-breaking year in terms of federal funds flowing to Colorado-based companies.
Nearly $23 billion in federal contracts went to Colorado aerospace and defense companies last fiscal year from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, according to the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade. The state is on track to match that amount this fiscal year, said Robert Beletic, OEDIT’s aerospace and defense industry manager.
“By all accounts, it was a record-breaking year,” said Beletic, a retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general.
And Beletic believes that $23 billion is an underestimation. Only contracts worth $7.5 million and up were counted. “If they were less than that, they’re just too many. It’s too hard to find them all.”
Beletic didn’t have access to private contracts. He included just the first year of federal multi-year awards. He didn’t include contracts given to companies based elsewhere unless the contract specifies that a certain percentage of the work will be done in Colorado.
Although this is the first time OEDIT has done this kind of report, Beletic believes the last fiscal year set a record based on data from previous years and reviews he did of earlier contracts.
“What we did last year is so much bigger than any other year, so I feel confident that it’s a record,” Beletic said.
The 138 contracts tallied in the OEDIT report were awarded to roughly 50 companies. In addition, Colorado’s military bases drew $12.3 billion in federal funding and the federal research labs in the state received $3.4 billion.
Beletic said Colorado has the most private aerospace employees per capita in the nation. Aerospace companies employ roughly 55,000 people directly and another 184,000 indirectly. About 2,000 companies are in the industry or offer aerospace-related services and products, according to OEDIT.
The state’s aerospace industry spans four metro areas and at least eight rural counties, a 2023 report by the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. said. The study found the industry contributes $12.7 billion annually to the state economy. Employment in the industry expanded by 32.5% over five years.
Beletic said what he calls Colorado’s “full-spectrum aerospace ecosystem” explains why the industry is thriving in the state. The companies in Colorado range from long-established businesses to startups that are building satellites, propulsion systems, rocket engines, land rovers and space stations and offer such services as cyber security and communications.
The industry also benefits from the world-class federal research labs and universities in Colorado, Beletic added. Another plus is Colorado’s designation as a hub for advancing and commercializing quantum technology. A consortium of private, public and academic organizations in Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico was designated as a hub and received $40.5 million in 2024 from the federal Economic Development Administration.
“Our space industry, being full spectrum, attracts a lot of companies and more businesses. Success breeds success,” Beletic said.
While a new administration is taking over in Washington, D.C., Beletic believes support for the aerospace and defense industry will continue. He noted the Defense Department’s recent statements about the country’s need to maintain its edge in space in the face of competition from China and Russia.
Dan Jablonsky, CEO of Ursa Major, also credited Colorado’s mix of other aerospace companies, federal laboratories and universities for the state’s growing aerospace and defense industry. Ursa Major, founded in 2015, produces space rocket and missile propulsion systems. The company designs, builds and tests its products on a 90-acre site in Berthoud.
“There’s a fantastic talent base here in Colorado, between the types of companies and the types of universities that are contributing to the talent base, as well as a pretty good environment for cooperation with state and federal officials,” said Jablonsky, formerly president and CEO of Maxar Technologies in Westminster.
In 2019, Ursa Major’s 30 employees were working in a 9,000-square-foot building in Lafayette. Most of the current 250 employees work in a 60,000-square-foot facility in Berthoud. The company also has an advanced manufacturing lab in Youngstown, Ohio. Jablonsky said all the products are manufactured in the U.S. and 3D printing is used to make about 80% of the components.
Ursa Major has federal, commercial and international customers, Jablonsky said. The company is working on hypersonic engines, which typically travel faster than 3,500 mph. A flight test is planned this year
Jablonsky expects Colorado’s aerospace industry to keep growing. “I think Colorado is on the leading edge for some of the capabilities that are being undertaken.”
Lockheed Martin Space’s business in Colorado is thriving, “with access to strong engineering talent, technological resources and robust academics from local universities and research institutions,” Jeff Schrader, Lockheed’s vice president of strategy and business development, said in an email.
Lockheed Martin Space is one of the larger, more established aerospace and defense companies in Colorado. Others are Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and Space & Mission Systems, formerly Ball Aerospace.
“In 2024, Lockheed Martin’s more than 11,000 Colorado employees advanced scientific discovery and protection from space through its work on important military, intelligence, civil and commercial space projects,” Schrader said.
Those projects include supporting NASA’s Artemis mission, whose ultimate goal is to land the first woman on the moon. Lockheed built the Orion capsule that orbited the moon in 2022 in the first phase of the journey.
Like Ursa Major, True Anomaly is one of the newer aerospace companies that has found room to grow in Colorado. Both companies worked with the state economic development office after deciding to locate or expand in Colorado. In 2023, the company expanded from an office in Colorado Springs to a manufacturing facility in Centennial where it makes satellites that provide security for other spacecraft.
“We have found Colorado to be a very vibrant and diverse place to find talent. You have a kind of legacy aerospace contingent, which is quite valuable and knowledgeable about space,” said Christina Cook, the company’s chief revenue officer.
“But then you have an increasingly vibrant startup ecosystem as well,” Cook said. “You have quite a broad swath of talent that you can find in the state of Colorado.”
About 140 people work at True Anomaly, which Cook said has “a rapidly growing head count.” The company’s primary customer is the U.S. Space Force. The company’s founders include former space operations officers.
Cook doesn’t expect the decision about where to permanently locate the U.S. Space Command to affect True Anomaly’s business decisions. President Joe Biden reversed former President Donald Trump’s decision to move the command from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Ala.
But with Trump headed back to the White House, Alabama’s congressional delegation is once again shooting to make Huntsville the command’s permanent home.
“The decision to stay in Colorado really has more to do with finding the right talent to build the company,” Cook said. “Space Command and where it may or may not go, won’t impact our talent or have a significant impact on our ability to grow.”
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