Paso Robles took a step into the future by partnering with Cal Poly on its spaceport license application.
The City Council voted on Dec. 6 to pay the Cal Poly Corporation an estimated $110,000 to complete a three-part plan that would help get the Paso Robles Municipal Airport’s application to become a licensed spaceport into the Federal Aviation Administration by Aug. 31, 2023. According to city Economic Development Manager Paul Sloan, the funding approval provided the necessary tools to move forward with the license application.
“Now there’s funding behind it, so the students who are working behind it are paid and we also pay for the expert faculty’s time,” Sloan said.
The spaceport would launch rockets horizontally—like traditional airplanes—providing an opportunity for Cal Poly students to build and launch miniature satellites known as CubeSats into space and bring economic development to North SLO County.
Cal Poly’s proposal involves three separate parts. The first part of the plan involves the completion of the license. The second involves facilitating partnerships between the space technology and agricultural technology industries. This includes developing and mapping out the area of the city known as the Tech Corridor by creating a website that promotes the strategic plan.
“It just happens to be that [the businesses] are in a technical field, but they’re going to need all the other things that come with any business,” Sloan said. “That’s why, even at Cal Poly, we’re working with students in the business department as well as in the graphic design department.”
The third component of the plan would involve spurring workforce development in the Tech Corridor with Cal Poly.
“They have contacts and relationships with this vast array of technical companies because those are the companies that hired their graduates to work in all these various businesses,” Sloan said.
He added that since the Dec. 6 meeting, there have been multiple conversations between Cal Poly students, the city, and Global Spaceport Alliance Chair Dr. George Nield.
“The students have been able to ask questions and for him to give them some guidance as they start the project to actually put things in motion,” Sloan said. “We have calls every other week to see how we’re moving forward.”
The project is supported by the Regional Economic Action Coalition (REACH), which is also involved with projects surrounding Vandenberg Space Force Base near Lompoc.
“There is a demand for this type of horizontal launch spaceport and they are going through all the steps to bring that vision into a reality, and it fits perfectly within the larger vision for the Central Coast region to really capitalize on our role as a kind of space country,” REACH President and CEO Melissa James said.
As the spaceport progresses, James said that REACH will work toward “attracting investment” to the region.
“REACH really plays a role in trying to ready the region for that investment, advocating to state and federal partners for these types of opportunities for the right kinds of grants and investment, and then attracting the private sector into our region,” James said. Δ
This article appears in Dec 22, 2022 – Jan 1, 2023.