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11th Annual Aerospace Day Highlights $7.6B Industry in Virginia

Jeremy Eggers

Wallops Chief

Feb 02, 2016
Article
A man in a grey shirt, white pants, and black over-the-ear headphones kneels to the right of a remote control model plane on a runway at Wallops Flight facility. The white model plane has orange and black accents.
NASA and industry leaders will highlight the impact of Virginia’s $7.6 billion aerospace sector during the 11th annual Aerospace Day, Wednesday, Feb. 3, in Richmond, Virginia.
Credit: NASA

NASA and industry leaders will highlight the impact of Virginia’s $7.6 billion aerospace sector during the 11th annual Aerospace Day, Wednesday, Feb. 3, in Richmond, Virginia.

Notable operations and initiatives in focus during the 11th annual event include:

  • Continued revitalization of NASA’s Langley Research Center to include construction of the Computational Research Facility and groundbreaking on a $94 million, state-of-the-art Measurement Systems Lab
  • Cargo resupply missions to the International Space Station launching from the Commonwealth’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility through 2024; Orbital ATK is poised to return its Antares rocket to operational status in the summertime
  • The Commonwealth’s construction of a 3,000-foot unmanned aircraft systems runway on Wallops Island
  • Ongoing work in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education through programs like the Virginia Aerospace and Science Technology Scholars (VASTS) and the Virginia Space Coast Scholars (VSCS), both in partnership with the Virginia Space Grant Consortium

NASA Astronaut Mike Hopkins will participate in this year’s event, meeting with legislators and conducting education outreach activities. Hopkins was a crewmember on Expedition 37/38 to the International Space Station, which launched Sept. 25, 2013, and returned to Earth March 10, 2014, completing 2,656 orbits of the planet and traveling more than 70 million miles.

The day’s activities are punctuated with an evening reception and aerospace exhibition at the Library of Virginia.

Virginia’s aerospace industry is powered by two NASA facilities: Langley Research Center and Wallops Flight Facility, more than 265 aerospace firms, 66 public use airports, and one of only four spaceports in the nation offering access to low-Earth orbit and deep space.

Additional facts about aerospace in Virginia:

  • NASA investments generate $1.3 billion and almost 11,000 jobs in Virginia
  • NASA funding to Virginia businesses and universities total $619 million per year with 46 percent ($285 million) going to small businesses in the Commonwealth
  • The average salary for those in the Aerospace sector is $100,000

For more information on NASA’s Langley Research Center, visit:

www.nasa.gov/langley

For more information on NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, visit:

www.nasa.gov/wallops

Jeremy Eggers
Wallops Flight Facility
jeremy.l.eggers@nasa.gov

Kathy Barnstorff
Langley Research Center
kathy.barnstorff@nasa.gov