This week, Coloradans got an encouraging reminder that the Centennial State will play a pivotal role in the exploration of space.

The 41st annual Space Symposium at The Broadmoor hotel in Colorado Springs, on the heels of the successful Artemis II voyage around the moon, highlighted the work Coloradans did in supporting that mission. It’s a hint of the missions to come and the role that will be played by a space industry consisting of 56,000 employees and 2,000 aerospace companies.

Colorado ranked only behind Florida and California in its contributions to the Artemis mission. That was spearheaded by Lockheed Martin Space building the Orion capsule, where the astronauts lived and worked. Colorado-based United Launch Alliance built an upper stage of the rocket that propelled Orion into a high Earth orbit. And local company Frontgrade Technologies played a pivotal role in building components of Orion’s computers that functioned despite the hostile vacuum environment of space. 

At the symposium, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman detailed the agency’s goal of a permanent base on the moon to serve as “a perfect place to test various technologies humanity will need as it ventures deeper and deeper into space.” 

A memorandum issued at the symposium this week said NASA, working in partnership with the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy, will field a space-based nuclear reactor by 2028 and a moon-based reactor by 2030.

Lockheed Martin and a few other companies with a large presence in Colorado have been tasked by NASA to develop technologies for the Habitable Worlds Observatory — a “next-generation space observatory” that would directly image planets in distant solar systems and help scientists learn whether they can support life.

Seth Harvey, chief executive of Bluestaq and chairman of the Colorado Springs Chamber and EDC’s board, told those assembled at the symposium despite Space Command’s relocation to Alabama, Colorado Springs and the state in general are, “uniquely positioned to shape the next decade of defense innovation and national security in space.”

The collective message at The Broadmoor from Harvey and others — including Art Loureiro, director for space defense solutions for L3Harris Technologies and chairman of the Colorado Aerospace and Defense Council, and retired Gen. John Hyten, former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — was that the anticipated doubling of the U.S. Space Force’s budget to $71 billion will inevitably trickle down to Colorado. It is home to more than 50% of the Space Force’s workforce. 

Realities — from Northern Command’s importance, to a refocus on national security with the development of the new Golden Dome missile-defense system — require Colorado to play a pivotal role into the future.

And then there were the expansion and investment announcements at the symposium, reflecting how Colorado remains attractive for the industry. That included Ohio-based aerospace company SelectTech Services Corporation expanding to El Paso County, given its proximity to government clients such as the Air Force and Space Force, its original equipment manufacturers in the aerospace industry and “the region’s specialized talent within the aviation industry.”

No question about it; Colorado will be at the center of our country’s space quest.