JUNEAU, AK:  Alaska Aerospace provided the luncheon presentation at the Juneau Chamber of Commerce weekly meeting on October 12, 2017.  Attended by approximately 40 business leaders from the community, Craig Campbell, Alaska Aerospace President and CEO, presented a general overview of the company and offered his perspective on the changing launch vehicle market and demands for small and ultra-small launch vehicle capability, which can be met from Alaska, to meet the emerging small commercial satellite market.

“Having the opportunity to update the business community in Alaska’s Capital City allowed Alaska Aerospace to highlight the successes of 2017 to an audience that is keenly interested in the performance of our state-owned corporation, but also inform the public of the future launch market for Alaska Aerospace in 2018 and beyond” stated Campbell.  “Alaska Aerospace has fundamentally changed over the past five years to become a much more agile and cost competitive company that is attractive to the commercial small launch vehicle industry” he concluded.

Alaska Aerospace operates the Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska (PSCA), located on Kodiak Island.  Due to the high latitude of Alaska, PSCA is only capable of launching rockets into polar, sun-synchronous, and high inclination orbits.  To maximize the commercial market opportunity, Campbell told the audience that Alaska Aerospace is proceeding with evaluating development of an equatorial launch site outside the state of Alaska.  He stressed that, should development of an equatorial site be pursued, no state funds would be used, but rather Alaska Aerospace would seek investment financing and other funding resources to construct and operate the site.

“Alaska Aerospace has not received any state sustainment funding since 2014” Campbell reminded the audience.  “As we continue to grow, we will reinvest earnings into infrastructure improvements and facility expansions that provide increased capabilities to both our government and commercial customers, with the goal of expanding the aerospace industry in our state” he continued. 

Alaska Aerospace Corporation is a state-owned corporation established to develop a high-technology aerospace industry in Alaska.  AAC owns and operates the Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska (PSCA) located on Kodiak Island offering all indoor, all weather, processing and providing optimal support for both orbital and sub-orbital space launches. Its corporate headquarters is in Anchorage, Alaska with a regional office in Huntsville, Alabama.