FILE – Technicians work on the Psyche spacecraft at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Monday, April 11, 2022, in Pasadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
In a galaxy far, far away, California has a chance to stake its claim — or so the state’s lawmakers say.
Several dozen members of California’s congressional delegation, including a handful from Southern California, asked Gov. Gavin Newsom last week to prioritize investment in the space industry, part of a move among leaders responding to recent job cuts and funding shortfalls.
In their letter, 40 House members and the state’s two senators emphasized the need for greater state leadership and continued investment, which they said will bring to California high-paying jobs and large economic growth.
“With the increased cadence in commercial, national security and civil space launch, there is not a better time to position California to be a global leader in the space economy,” the lawmakers said.
Because the state is already home to several federal space facilities, including the Vandenberg Space Force Base, the Los Angeles Air Force Base, NASA facilities like the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Ames Research Center as well as a strong satellite manufacturing industry, lawmakers said: “California is uniquely positioned to capitalize on the rapidly growing space economy.”
California has a rich heritage of spaceflight, said Madhu Thangavelu, a lecturer of astronautical engineering at the University of Southern California. The state, instrumental in landing men on the moon in the space race, is home to offices or headquarters of several industry heavyweights, including Boeing, Northrop Grumman, NASA and SpaceX.
“In the past 10 years, we’ve seen the private space sector take off,” said Thangavelu, also a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. “This happened the most in Southern California, to be specific.”
“No other state could compete with California because of our heritage,” he said. “There’s a whole culture around human spaceflight that exists in all of California.”
Since 2019, California has invested $625 million in more than 25 counties in the defense and space industry through various programs, said Newsom spokesperson Omar Rodriguez, including those that offer tax credits to businesses based in the state.
Some examples are California Competes, an income tax credit available to businesses that want to come to California or stay in the state; the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority, which offers a tax exclusion to manufacturers of products that reduce pollution and energy use; and the Employment Training Panel, a workforce training program that provides financial assistance to California businesses, said Rodriguez.
In 2022, California launched the California Space Industry Task Force, aimed at pursuing opportunities to “harness future growth in the space industry,” according to Newsom’s office, through efforts like expanding aerospace research and working with universities to strengthen their career pipeline into the industry.
The task force convenes government and industry leaders regularly to strengthen commercial space industry in the state, said Rhys Williams, Newsom’s chief deputy cabinet secretary.
Despite those efforts, said Thangavelu, companies have uprooted their headquarters or parts of their businesses from California, partly due to the state’s heavy regulation of public and private companies as well as the high cost of doing business.
In response to the lawmakers, Williams said Newsom is “committed to expanding the state’s role in our nation’s space ecosystem.”
“California’s innovation is not limited to Earth,” he said. “California looks forward to working with state and federal leaders to continue growing and leading the nation’s commercial space sector.”
Many of the lawmakers noted that they were motivated by a desire to preserve space industry jobs within their districts and California as a whole.
It was just last month when JPL in Pasadena laid off more than 500 people, about 8% of the lab’s total staffing.
At the time, JPL Director Laurie Leshin, in breaking the news to the staff at JPL, wrote, “These cuts are among the most challenging that we have had to make even as we have sought to reduce our spending in recent months.”
Leshin noted that the lab was waiting on Congress for funding for the much-publicized Mars Sample Return mission — an effort to retrieve soil and rock samples collected by a Mars rover and return them to Earth for study. But officials were already under the gun to cut costs, leading to a hiring freeze, a reduction in some MSR mission contracts, budget cuts and elimination of some on-site contractors.
She noted that NASA previously told JPL to expect an MSR budget of $300 million, a 63% drop from the previous year.
When Congress passed last-minute funding bills earlier this month, Sen. Alex Padilla noted that the approved funding agreement that “provides no less than $300 million in funding for the Mars Sample Return Program” was “a step in the right direction” to ensure California’s leading position in the industry.
But it didn’t take the matter off local leaders’ radars across Southern California.
“The issue is of particular importance to the thousands of aerospace jobs here in the San Fernando Valley,” said Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks. This point was echoed by fellow San Fernando Valley Rep. Tony Cárdenas of Panorama City.
“Seeing the respective successes of Texas and Florida’s space ventures, I joined my California delegation colleagues to encourage Gov. Newsom to further expand efforts in our state,” said Cárdenas. “We know that California has valuable resources and talent that could outcompete others, so I’m supportive of state investments in our space industrial.”
And Rep. Katie Porter, a Democrat who represents a district that has a wealth of private aerospace companies, said Orange County could benefit from increased state support.
“I’m proud to represent a thriving research community, which includes academic researchers at places like (UC Irvine) and local businesses that are building critical systems for the Artemis Space Program,” she said, pointing to the NASA campaign that aims to land the first woman and first person of color on the moon.
“Orange County is a nationwide leader in driving innovation, and we have consistently benefited from bipartisan federal support,” said Porter. “Our community also needs partners at the state level, who will invest in our growing space economy to promote scientific advances and create jobs.”
A similar group of bipartisan lawmakers — including Reps. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank; Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita; and Judy Chu, D-Pasadena — recently urged NASA Administrator Bill Nelson to commit at least $650 million to the Mars Sample Return Program.
Chu, along with Rep. Don Bacon, a Republican, have also restarted the Congressional Planetary Science Caucus, which works to advance planetary science missions. The Planetary Society is a founding partner of the caucus.
In the letter to Nelson, signed by 23 representatives from California, they asked NASA to invest in the program to retain its workforce and ensure America remains the world leader in the race to Mars.
“If NASA continues to put forward insufficient funding necessitating any further reductions in staff downstream and unnecessary delays to the mission, it risks compromising our national leadership with respect to solar system exploration,” they said.
