Senate and House unanimously support Sen. Daughtry bill to support emerging aerospace industry in Maine
AUGUSTA – On Tuesday, April 5, the Senate approved a bill from Sen. Mattie Daughtry, D-Brunswick, to support Maine’s emerging aerospace industry. The bill, LD 1923, “An Act To Establish the Maine Space Corporation,” received unanimous, bipartisan support in both the Senate and the House.
“A new space economy of Maine could contribute between $550 million and $1.1 billion per year to the state in the next 20 years, including between 2,800 and 5,500 good-paying jobs. Maine needs to be prepared for coordinated economic development,” said Sen. Daughtry. “By establishing the Space Corporation, we’ll be ready to collaborate between existing and new industries to invest in Maine’s future. This proposal is specialized toward Maine’s needs and has the potential for Maine to fill in the niche of nanosatellite research and development to do innovative work such as tracking the impacts of climate change.”
As amended, LD 1923 would create a public-private partnership to facilitate the growth of space and aerospace industries in Maine referred to as the Maine Space Complex. The Maine Space Complex would serve as a central hub for Maine’s space industry, facilitate data storage and analysis, research and development, and grow and promote jobs in Maine. Maine is poised to become a leader in small launches because of its geographic location, strong STEM programs at universities, history of manufacturing and existing military-grade infrastructure such as the former Loring Airforce Base and Brunswick Landing.
“While it may sound far off, the space and aerospace economy presents a tremendous opportunity for Maine’s citizens, companies and communities,” said Prof. Ali Abedi, representing the University of Maine System when testifying in favor of LD 1923. “Increasingly, UMaine has become highly competitive in attracting federal investment, especially from NASA, to advance space knowledge and discovery, and grow our state’s STEM workforce and aerospace industry. In the past five years alone, NASA has awarded $11.6 million to UMaine faculty research.”
“To be clear, the Maine Space Complex is not about only launching small satellites on small rockets,” said Dr. Terry Shehata, representing the Maine Space Grant Consortium when testifying in support of LD 1923. “It is about engaging students, researchers, businesses, state and local governments, and communities across the three segments of the new space economy value chain and the underlying infrastructure needed to support these segments.”
“LD 1923 helps support Governor Mills’ 10-Year Strategic Plan with the goal of adding 75,000 new people to the workforce,” said Ben Lucas, on behalf of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce testifying in support of LD 1923. “The establishment of the Maine Space Data and Advanced Analytics Center of Excellence and the Maine New Space Innovation Hub will attract people to come work in Maine. K-12 education in Maine will also play a critical role to promote STEM education to help meet the demands this new industry will have for jobs.”
LD 1923 would support pre-existing businesses such as VALT Enterprises and bluShift. VALT Enterprises is a Maine business focused on the development of nanosatellites, and bluShift is an aerospace company that develops bio-derived fuels to launch small satellites into space. By creating the Maine Space Corporation, the state will be able to help facilitate relationships between companies like bluShift and VALT and attract new business here in Maine. The Maine Space Corporation, as outlined in LD 1923, will serve as a centralizing hub for innovation and economic development in the aerospace and space industry in Maine.
LD 1923 faces additional votes in the Legislature.
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