The latest space blockbuster will not take place in a galaxy far, far away. It’s scheduled for next week in Pasadena.
Space Tech Expo, a three-day gathering for space and satellite industry professionals, will blast off at the Pasadena Convention Center on May 24 and focus on a sector that is booming in the region.
“What Detroit was for the auto industry, Los Angeles now is for aerospace,” said Simon Halpern, chief executive of El Segundo-based Phase Four Inc., which builds plasma propulsion technologies for satellites. “It’s just got a great industrial and subcontractor base, and brings together people across the spectrum.”
Halpern, a scheduled speaker at the event, added that the chance to drive innovation in the space industry is no longer prohibitively expensive.
“The days of government being the only one to create and launch satellites are gone. We now live in a time where a few people with credit cards or students at UCLA or USC can build their own satellites and get close to launching them for not much more than the price of a luxury car,” he said.
Aerospace industry employment in Los Angeles County stood at 54,155 at the end of 2014, according to the most recent data available from the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. The same data put average annual wages in aerospace at $105,715 – almost twice the average paid in all other industries.
California investors are responsible for 30 percent of the world’s total investments in emerging space technologies, according to a NASA-supported study, with local venture capital firms such as Sherman Oaks’ DFJ Frontier among those investing heavily in commercial space missions.
The fifth annual Space Tech Expo is expected to host 240 companies showcasing technologies and roughly 3,500 attendees. Tickets are priced between $395 and $795.
Mindy Emsley, the conference’s director, said a great deal of value comes out of the event.
“L.A.’s expanding base of technical aerospace innovation and innovative tech sector companies is well placed to benefit from the shifting commercialization of space, including increased applications in data and monitoring and other small satellite opportunities,” she said. “Increased space access is possible due to cheaper launch activities, much of which is driven by local companies such as SpaceX and Phase Four.”
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, Elon Musk’s privately funded Hawthorne business, has been developing technologies to reduce space transportation costs.
Despite the recent spike in space investment, Phase Four’s Halpern said there are limits to growth.
“Yes, it’s cheaper than it used to be, but it is a lot of physics to overcome and a lot of government regulations,” he said. “The biggest difficulty is developing a scalable business model. However, conferences like these are a great reminder that Los Angeles is still a powerhouse city creating some of the world’s most exciting companies.”
