As space industry grows again, local companies seek role to play

An expanding space industry on the Space Coast has some businesses hoping and planning to get a piece of the new work.

With two large new facilities on their way, the region could grow and become an even hotter region for space-related contractors who can supply Blue Origin, OneWeb or any of the already existing space companies there with materials and components for their rockets and satellites.

Billionaire Jeff Bezos’ 750,000-square-foot rocket production facility has a planned opening date of late this year, while OneWeb plans to break ground Friday on its 100,000-square-foot satellite production site. Both facilities will be next door to Kennedy Space Center.

That could mean more contracts for local businesses to seek.

“We have to position ourselves accordingly,” said Carol Craig, CEO of Craig Technologies in Cape Canaveral. “You

have to say early, ‘We are a local company that will be available’ and keep talking to them when they show up.”

Craig Technologies has in the past landed work with NASA to provide components for the Space Launch System, which will eventually take astronauts into space from Florida.

That program has generated some excitement on the coast, and that buzz can translate into more companies giving the region a look.

For instance, the spacecraft parts supplier Ruag chose Titusville as its first U.S. location in November.

The company hopes to employ dozens during the next several years, with Ruag expecting to have a team of about 10 in place by the end of 2017.

The announcement was trumpeted by economic development officials in the region at the time.

For agencies like Space Florida, these announcements can make business recruitment easier.

“It’s not something you go out and directly encourage,” said Dale Ketcham, Space Florida’s chief of strategic alliances. “You can, but that takes a lot of bandwidth. We allow our marketplace to do our marketing in many ways.”

The agency does attend symposiums and other conferences selling the region’s growth to businesses.

As more companies come to Florida, the sell becomes easier, even if it’s not as deliberate, Ketcham said.

“It’s not for us to tell a company or third-tier supplier that a customer wants them to be near them,” he said. “But it’s on us to be responsive if that customer makes the suggestion.”

On Friday, the agency was able to cite another success.

The defense and aerospace contractor L-3 announced that it would process rocket motors at a facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The company, which employs people in Orlando, made the announcement at a press conference.

The smaller announcements like Ruag’s and L-3’s can add up when larger businesses arrive.

When Blue Origin opens its doors and starts rocket production, it could mean more chances for contractors to provide them with necessary parts.

That type of expansion can build on itself, as clusters attract more companies within the same industry, said Christian Ketels, a researcher at Harvard Business School who has studied industry clusters in regions.

“There are often anchors set up and then other companies come around it,” he said.

The key for clusters to work, Ketels said, is for businesses and other assets like higher learning institutions or business training centers to consider themselves a unit.

That means finding common causes, such as the development of a skilled labor force.

But there are challenges, including the potential for “group thinking,” where new ideas are stifled or not promoted.

“A cluster cannot mean that we are closing down competition,” he said. “These types of structures must always remain open to outside ideas. You can’t develop a group-think mentality.”

Craig, whose company employs more than 400, including more than 250 on the coast, said she has been involved with the Space Coast Economic Development Commission and the local chamber, so she’s well informed about opportunities that might open up for her company.

But she says smaller firms have yet to catch that potential.

While Blue Origin and OneWeb’s arrival won’t necessarily mean local work, she said she remains “cautiously optimistic.”

“I know everyone talks about local and the money that can be saved,” she said. “But a lot of these companies already have their sources and have work out with a number of companies.”