Space prize: Palmdale misses top six ranking

We had an editorial set to bolster Palmdale’s quest for the Space Command branch headquarters when news sources announced Friday that our local community had failed to get selected as one of the top six locations still in the running.

We were shocked, shocked. Among its many space-related projects, Palmdale is famous as the highly successful manufacturing site for the space shuttle.

The community repeatedly cheered when the double sonic boom announced one after another of the successful landings of the shuttles on the Edwards Air Force Base runway.

The US Space Command headquarters is a monumental prize and Palmdale should be in the competition along with 25 other locations in other states.

The facilities could employ as many as 1,400 people. Palmdale officials believed they had a strong case because of our many decades of top-flight activity among its home-grown aviation and space industries.

Between 1950 and 1957, Palmdale became a world-recognized location for more than a half dozen aerospace industries. Then the Pentagon brass decided that all it needed was missiles to protect the United States.

But aerospace industry firms have continued moving into the territory because of its ready-inplace facilities and trained aerospace workers and great flying weather.

The US Space Force, established last year, is headquartered at the Pentagon, as are the country’s five other military branches. However, a large share of the Space Force’s work will be conducted from Space Command.

The process of selecting a permanent headquarters for US Space Command is likely to finish sometime early in 2021. That means communities are making their final pitches to the Defense Department to bring the Command and its billions of dollars in economic investment to their cities.

Palmdale could use Kevin McCarthy’s strong, top-tier support. He recently again won his seat and position as House Minority Leader. His district includes a large portion of Aerospace Valley.

Palmdale City Manager J.J. Murphy — a former major in the Air Force Reserves — has been pushing to get the Space Command to land in Palmdale. He mentioned that the command’s headquarters could deliver $1-2 billion in federal money to the selected community.

He said he was confident about Palmdale’s prospects not only because of almost year-round good weather. The city has the land to be able to say if Space Com comes here, this city could provide the other kind of space: room for the military to build and spread out.

Local officials were eager to win the prize as the global center of the aerospace universe and a boon for both Los Angeles and Kern Counties.

“From a jobs standpoint, I know even our local businesses would greatly benefit from a new headquarters here,” Luis Garibay, Palmdale’s Economic Development manager said. “Retail shops, even our local restaurants are excited about the potential of US Space Com coming to our region.”

Tim Ford, CEO of the Association of Defense Communities, said in a perfect world, the headquarters would simply be awarded to the community that scores the highest on the evaluation criteria.

Pentagon officials have said they hope to announce their Number 1 preferred location no later than January.