Georgia Space Leadership Summit

(1)

Proceedings of the

Georgia Space Leadership Summit

Tuesday, July 29, 2014 8:30AM to 4:00 PM GTRI Conference Center 250 14

^th

Street Atlanta, GA 30318

Presented by:

Georgia Center of Innovation for Aerospace

Georgia Tech Center for Space Technology and Research (C-STAR)

Facilitated by:

The Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech

Compiled and Edited By:

Dr. Mariel Borowitz – Assistant Professor

San Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech

Dr. Robert Braun – Director

Georgia Tech Center for Space Technology and Research

R. Steven Justice – Director Gary O’Neil – Deputy Director

Georgia Center of Innovation for Aerospace

December 15, 2014

(2)

Introduction

The Georgia Space Leadership Summit brought together aerospace leaders from across the state to develop a long range plan that builds on Georgia’s strengths in military and civil aerospace, along with our excellent aerospace education infrastructure, to take advantage of emerging opportunities in the global space market to expand the space industry within the state of Georgia.

The summit featured national context on space activities provided by space ‘thought leaders’; the current state-of-the-state in space from local industry and academic leaders; and focused group discussions on the opportunities and challenges ahead.

The Georgia Space Leadership Summit addressed the following key questions:

 Where can Georgia provide a meaningful impact in the development and operations of space systems, payload services, and space operations?

 How can Georgia be developed as a significant provider of vertical and horizontal launch services?

 What is a successful communication strategy for Georgia’s space activities, both internal and external to the state?

Ms. Mariel Borowitz of the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech served as the moderator and facilitator during the summit to help identify specific, actionable short- and long-term recommendations for all stakeholders to grow space within the state of Georgia.

These Proceedings of the summit were prepared by the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech, the Georgia Tech Center for Space Technology and Research, and Georgia Center of Innovation for Aerospace to serve as the roadmap for the Georgia space community as all parties work together to grow the state’s space industry.

(4)

Key Findings and Recommendations

The discussions during the Leadership Summit can be categorized and collated into three main areas:

 State Policy

 Outreach & Communication

 Space Industry Ecosystem

The following sections summarize the key issues and recommendations discussed at the Summit.

State Policy

Commercial space growth has provided an opportunity for growth in Georgia, with the opportunity for heightened visibility to national activities. But to be able to exploit that opportunity will require more emphasis at the state level.

 Recommendation - The Governor should make the space industry a focus for state efforts at the GDEcD and other agencies. This could be done in coordination with any announcement of the Camden Spaceport.

 Recommendation - The Governor should consider appointing a Space Advocate to coordinate and promote space industry activities within the state. This could be an existing state resource or a new resource.

With the announcement of the Camden Spaceport, the state General Assembly may need to establish an authority, like that for the Georgia ports, to focus attention and resources to the project.

 Recommendation – The General Assembly should establish a Georgia Spaceport

Authority to be a central point of contact for spaceport activities. In conjunction with the Authority, the legislature should consider enabling legislation that provides statutory structure for liability and indemnification issues related to design, manufacture and launch of space systems.

Other policy actions can focus state resources on the growing space industry and attract space companies to the state, much like what was done with the film industry. Specific actions include:

 Specifically target for recruitment companies that want to be close to launch providers either at the Camden Spaceport or in Florida.

 Specifically target for recruitment companies that design and fabricate subsystems, systems or full space vehicles that are compatible with the infrastructure which Georgia offers.

(5)

 Along the lines of the current sales tax exemption for manufacturing, adopt a “Zero G, Zero Tax” law to exclude from state taxes items that are destined for launch.

 Offer significant incentives for space startups and for space companies doing business within Georgia similar to the incentives that helped bring the film industry to the state.

Outreach & Communication

Georgia is not a traditional ‘space state” therefore significant effort is needed to promote the potential for the space industry in Georgia both within and outside the state. This is not the sole responsibility of state economic development, but a shared effort between state, university, industry and organizations. Any outreach plan should focus on big, visible activities by local companies (small satellite development, space launch systems development, and spaceport), targeted articles and videos in the news, and convincing more companies to move here. There was a sense with the group that we didn’t need to focus on one particular portion of the space sector –welcome all comers, particularly companies that are growing, to create a general space center of mass.

 Recommendation – Develop an integrated public relations strategy including state government, the university system, industry, and space organizations. The strategy should include:

o Develop and widely distribute “Success Stories” about companies in Georgia that are developing new space technologies and products.

o Publicize current efforts within the state by the Space Working Group, GT C- STAR, Space Grant Consortium, Middle Georgia State College, other university system units, and COI-Aerospace.

o Develop suitable printed and web accessible materials to highlight the space effort in Georgia.

o Attend high profile national conferences on the space industry to highlight the space efforts in Georgia.

o Sponsor locally developed symposia and forums with a focus on the space industry.

o Actively solicit national conferences with a space focus to locate their events in Georgia.

Space Industry Ecosystem

To grow within and attract from outside new space activities, Georgia needs a strong space industry ecosystem to support that growth. Georgia has a strong aviation/aeronautics industry with over 500 companies and 86,000 employees across the state, but the challenge is to leverage the considerable skills and resources in the aeronautics sector to support space activities within the state. The state does have strong space research and education programs at Georgia Tech which can serve the technology and workforce needs of the space sector. The Space Working Group serves as the first public-private forum to activity discuss and identify activities to move

(6)

the space industry forward, but more can be done to improve our business environment for the space sector.

 Recommendation The Georgia Department of Economic Development should

encourage the formation of statewide and regional groups or collaborations that provide venues for networking and workshops that benefit the state’s emerging space activities.

Also local and state economic development organizations can take the following actions to support space industry growth:

 Provide low cost, or free, office and other space to companies that relocate to Georgia.

 Develop incubators to encourage the growth of local start-up companies, particularly near emerging space industry clusters such as in Camden County.

Industry itself can foster growth and excitement about the space industry by:

 Creating more internships and cooperative education (Coop) slots for our local university students.

 Compete for more Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grants with support from organization such as the GT Enterprise Innovation Institute (GT-EII) and other SBIR resources with the university system.

 Investigate the formation of a Georgia Space Business roundtable along the line of similar organizations founded in Colorado, Maryland, and Washington DC. This could serve as a successor group or operate in conjunction with the existing Space Working Group.

Finally more capital is needed for start-up and growing Georgia space companies:

 Work with the Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) to identify opportunities for investment in new space focused R&D at the university level that will support industry growth.

 Monitor and engage with the formation of the Invest Georgia Fund to allow Georgia space companies to successfully compete for capital funding.

 Using existing investment networks, provide private groups with awareness of potential investment opportunities related to space in the state.

(7)

Summary of Discussions

The Georgia Space Leadership Summit provided a forum for leaders in industry, academia, organizations, and state government to discuss the opportunities for growth in in the space industry and specific actions to take to achieve that growth. While the discussions and recommendations presented above are important, the most important aspect of the Summit was the willingness of the participants to give their time and expertise toward building the Georgia space industry. Their continued active support is essential to the success of the effort.

Welcome and Introductions

Mr. Steve Justice – Director, COI-Aerospace Dr. Robert Braun – Director, GT C-STAR Dr. Steve Cross – GT EVP for Research

Dr. Mariel Borowitz – Associate Professor, GT San Nunn School of International Affairs

The event started at 8:30 AM with initial welcoming remarks from Steve Justice. He introduced Dr. Bobby Braun of GT Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering and C-STAR (Center for Space Technology and Research) and Dr. Mariel Borowitz of the Georgia Tech Sam Nunn School of International Affairs.

Bobby Braun then gave some brief welcoming remarks and introduced Dr. Steve Cross, Georgia Tech Executive Vice President for Research.

Dr. Cross expressed hope that we could develop a positive view of how we could do big things in space in Georgia. He noted Georgia Tech’s long history with space, the continued support for and exponential growth of space related activities on campus. He discussed the formation of the Georgia Tech Center for Space Technology and Research.

Steve Justice followed with a brief overview of aerospace in Georgia and its importance to the state. In the discussion related to his presentation, there was an observation that space is a

$300B market and Georgia should be more involved.

Mariel Borowitz, as moderator, discussed Key Questions to frame the overall discussion of the summit. She then discussed the ground rules for the rest of the day and there was a short break before the first panel discussion.

Panel #1 - Academic and Organizational Perspectives on Georgia Space

Dr. Robert Braun – Director, Georgia Tech Center for Space Research and Technology Mr. Mike Mealling – President, Georgia Space Society

Dr. Stephen Ruffin – Director, Georgia Space Grant Consortium

(8)

Panelist Presentations

Bobby Braun: We are at a pivotal time in our nation, with big changes in the way space is managed. Market for launching and services is shifting to commercial. Federal government is usually the ‘pathfinder’ and will continue to invest in R&D and National Security and to stimulate additional commercial growth. Academia has a big role to provide those researchers and engineers with training – MS is needed as entry level to work in space related research or companies. We educate a lot of engineers in Georgia. Unfortunately, they all end up in CO, TX, and CA because that’s where the space sector jobs are. His lab has ~4 student openings a year and about 80 applicants. Growing research into great ideas and growing the ideas into

companies is something GT and Georgia do well, and we can do more.

Mike Mealling: National Space Society was formed in 1987 composed of “people who want to do something” in the area of space. He is currently the President of the Georgia Space Society – part of National Space Society. “Space Up” is their primary event to get average citizens

involved in the promotion of space. The next Space Up event is coming this fall. Generally he believes that lower launch prices will open up access for a wide range of academic and

commercial purposes and make space more inclusive. Mike is a proponent of a Southeast

Georgia launch site for which he described the opportunity as “most awesome” We want to make it easy in this state to operate a Space business.

Steve Ruffin: The Space Grant Consortium is focused on getting more students, and a diverse mix of students, interested in science. The consortium has 17 colleges and universities, two industry partners (SpaceWorks, Generation Orbit), Museum of Aviation, Orbit Education. Their mission is to grow and maintain talent within the state through support to students at

participating institutions. The funding from the Consortium is at the undergraduate and graduate level with 40 projects across the state supporting over 100 students. In total the Consortium’s activities reach 30,000 residents each year. The consortium wants to expand links between industry to schools. Dr. Ruffin also noted that there is practically no space activity currently in SE Georgia.

Question and Answers

Stephen Fleming asked: Are students going to startups or big companies? In CA and CO, there are a lot of startups fueled by VC money, and these tend to sweep up a lot of students.

Dan Murray of MERC thanked the Space Consortium for support of Aviation Museum. He asked what should Mercer focus on? Various attendees expressed interest in looking for potential collaborative research areas.

Darrell Preble – Space Solar Power – wants to link things together – mentioned efforts with China including classes by GT Shenzhen along with visiting GT professors at other institutions and his upcoming lecture in China about space solar power.

Mariel Borowitz asked “how can people get involved in your organizations?”

(9)

Bobby Braun pointed to the new C-STAR website for information and articles. He also noted that the formation of C-STAR has integrated several internal GT activities that should be more visible now.

Steve Ruffin pointed to the Space Grant Consortium website as well and highlighted the industry relationships with SpaceWorks and Generation Orbit as models for other

industry connections.

Mike Mealling noted the Georgia Space Society website and invited all to participate in this fall’s “Space Up”.

Mariel Borowitz asked what are the biggest challenges, opportunities, and changes coming in the space sector?

Mike Mealling commented on challenges and obstacles – the primary obstacle being that capital in Atlanta is not pointed to space. He noted that we have all the resources to do many things related to space in the state, but the pieces are not put together. He feels that there should be more cohesive economic development efforts from the state.

Bobby Braun noted that the commercial model is being spread throughout the space sector, noting there could even be commercially motivated space exploration. “Should be lots of ideas and opportunities to take advantage of in the future.”

Steve Justice compared the visibility of JPL landing probes on Mars and asked “Will we ever see something similar” in Georgia? Bobby Braun referred to Dave Spencer and the CubeSat Prox1 launch. He is confident that there will be a long pipeline of ‘small sat’

missions that we will become famous for. Georgia Tech also has a unique program in re- entry technology that is focused on developing the technology to enable future missions.

There area also 6-10 Georgia Tech scientists involved in NASA missions, For example, David Ballantyne (Physics) was a part of the NUSTAR mission and James Wray (Earth and Atmospheric Sciences) has been part of the Mars rover missions. In addition, several high-profile faculty are coming in to Tech in this next year.

Steve Ruffin discussed outreach opportunities for minority students, conferences, funding opportunities, and the benefit of networks that grown and build on themselves.

He then talked about the Columbus State College Coca-Cola Space Science Center and introduced Director Shawn Cruzen. Mr. Cruzen announced their receipt of the ¼ scale model of the space shuttle from NASA. This is a vital piece of space history and a great teaching tool.

The panelists also noted the resources we already have in Georgia include students, engineering companies, land in southeast Georgia, and the low cost of living. Also more opportunities are being created by the fact that the federal administration is interested in commercial space (like the NASA Commercial Crew program, though also in Earth

(10)

science, weather, astrophysics, and exploration, or small-sats) – this is a new area that Georgia can take advantage of.

Panel #2 - Industrial and Investor Perspectives on Georgia Space Mr. Michael Blake – Partner, Habif, Arogeti & Wynne

Dr. John Bradford – President, SpaceWorks

Mr. Stephen Fleming – Vice Provost, GT Enterprise Innovation Institute Mr. Jacob Vallo – Principal, Amsterdam Capital

Michael Blake: Mr. Blake gave a quick overview of his experience as a CPA and Venture Capitalist with valuation experience. His message was: with government space budgets not projected to grow, to grow the local space industry into something vibrant private capital needs to be injected with space launch as a good first target. VC returns are currently below average – getting about 10%. He noted that VC is getting too much into risk management – more like private equity. Telecomm, rail roads, etc. were funded by private capital, and the returns were far higher. VC needs to do ‘fundamental change’ investing, and he is bullish on space launch and operations.

John Bradford: - He related a brief history of his 15 year evolution as a small business, noting that his work, mostly studies and analysis, is becoming more commercial. His company is a project-based business, and his company’s growth been pretty stable over the past couple of years. Customer and projects include NASA for the Space Launch System (SLS), DoD work on hypersonic weapons, and commercial clients for point-to-point hypersonic transportation and market studies. SpaceWorks has a robust internship program using both college and high school students. Space in Georgia has room to grow and he noted that as a general rule, Georgia based firms have a very low “win rate” on SBIR proposals, far lower than other states.

Stephen Fleming: - Stephen was an early investor in XCOR and a member of the Space Angel Network. Georgia is all about logistics; first the Savannah port, followed by a rail network, then roads, and finally the investments that led to Hartfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Space is the next piece of that puzzle. The whole lifecycle and support of space is what Georgia has been part of since the beginning.

Jacob Vallo: He related the efforts of 19^th century industrialist Henry Flagler to build Florida into a tourist powerhouse. First he established destinations (hotels), then the means to travel to those destinations (rail), followed by supporting services. Space tourism can follow much the same path to create an excellent tourism experience in low Earth orbit. So how do we change the perception of the opportunity in Georgia for space? First we need high profile capital events to demonstrate the potential high returns to the investors. Those successes can be used by

investment research specialists to highlight further investment opportunities to move the local

(11)

space industry forward. He noted that a successful IPO by SpaceX would be a catalyst for other informed investment.

Mariel Borowitz asked how to identify companies that are good investment targets and how to get them to Georgia?

An audience member noted that a company called NewSpace Global was actively tracking investments in space related business.

Michael Blake suggested that we use the BioTech industry as model for funding for Space – a high tech, highly regulated industry that seems to have figured out the path from VC to IPO. BioTech is similar to aerospace in that it has long lead times, is capital intensive, and operates in a highly regulated environment.

Stephen Fleming noted that industry is being encouraged by this administration, and that government as customer is a huge lever to assist a growing market. He noted that airlines were first sustained by hauling Air Mail for the government. He suggested that there needs to be ‘predictability’ in the market without too much intervention as to who, what, where.

Jacob Vallo suggested that we could seek funding from various foundations for a seed fund to support space in Georgia, much like the Guggenheim family supported the growth of aviation in the early 20^th century. He also mentioned the Cox and Kennedy foundations as a place to seek funding.

The issue of SBIR/STTR wins was discussed again, with the audience offering observations that the other states have more SBIR related businesses, so they win more. Also suggested was that the other states with NASA centers have more experience in SBIR and therefore better ideas about what ‘sells’ for SBIR funding. Several people discussed the need for relevance in suggested research; most are hardware/software related, where Georgia companies are more focused on engineering analysis.

The moderator asked: What areas are the most promising for space growth in Georgia?

Michael Blake reference Bigelow Aerospace and their development of inflatable habitats for space tourism, semi-permanent settlements, and commercial research. Also asteroid mining could be a source of rare minerals for use on earth and possibly for space

industry.

John Bradford answered small satellite and operations/services that SpaceWorks can potentially provide. He also highlighted the Camden Spaceport, but also related that satellite operations are the biggest market opportunity.

(12)

Stephen Fleming believes that suborbital manned missions are potentially a good idea for tourism and particularly for climate research 20-150 miles up.

Jacob Vallo suggested that formalizing space property rights will be important to commercialization; specifically for mining of asteroids and the moon.

Panel #3 - Government & Legal Perspectives on Georgia Space Mr. Steve Howard – County Manager, Camden County

Mr. Steve Justice – Director, Center of Innovation for Aerospace

Rep. Ed Setzler – Chair, Science & Technology Committee, GA House of Representatives Mr. Robert Turner - 360 Venture Law

Steve Howard: Camden County is looking at a potential spaceport on a site previously used for solid rocket testing in the 1960s and showed a picture of such a test. He also showed an aerial view of the site with conceptual layout of possible launch pads and industrial sites. The County is in negotiations with the landowners, and has started the environmental impact study (IES) process with assistance from Georgia Tech. His message and vision was a future sign along I-95 in Camden County that would say “Welcome to Georgia’s Space Coast”.

Steve Justice: The Center Director mentioned the ‘sea change’ in space leadership discussions within state government in the last 12 months, and viewed space as the next big opportunity for Georgia’s aerospace industry. Space launch may not be huge jobs-wise, but it will be very visible. Space activities in general will raise the high tech image of the state leading to impact will be felt across many sectors in Georgia.

Ed Setzler: As Chair of the House Science & Technology Committee, he stated the belief that

“90% of what people know about is what YOU tell them” and we need to be better at talking about our systems and economy. High tech industry comes here and thrives…we need to continue this, and to celebrate it.” Our universities are really good. Our public schools are better than we realize.

Rob Turner: His main message was that the state is very conducive to conducting business which should help in bringing a new spaceport online and recruiting new space businesses.

The moderator asked a question about space company liability law – “California and Colorado have new laws – will Georgia?”

Ed Setzler was willing to jump into it in the new General Assembly session. Bob Scaringe mentioned Senator Albers as wanting to do so to support Camden County.

(13)

Bobby Braun asked about the Science and Technology Study Group of a couple of years ago.

Ed Setzler replied with a summary of the study – UAS is part of the focus along with aerospace, biotech and autonomous vehicles. He reaffirmed that the state wanted to be

‘out of the way’ of the innovators but visible in its role to ensure fair play.

Steve Justice recapped the state’s successful efforts in the UAS arena and promoted it as a model for the space sector.

Mariel Borowitz asked if Camden County might be overwhelmed by the size of the effort or by influx of companies – will they need help from the state.

Steve Howard explained they have set a 5 year plan in place, and that yes, eventually, support from other parts of the state will be needed.

Bobby Braun asked about the need for a ‘state authority.’ Steve Justice responded with one concept to take the existing Georgia Aviation Authority and convert it into a Georgia Aerospace Authority to support space efforts and overall aerospace growth.

Ed Setzler offered that creating an authority is easy, but getting the answers to key questions is needed: what’s the mission? What authority is needed?

Bobby Braun noted that Space Florida is always ‘in the conversation’ about anything related to space in the state of Florida. When they go to Washington, they get any meeting they want. He noted they are well tied into Florida’s Senators. Ed Setzler compared that to Georgia Ports Authority. Need a ‘place to start’ for folks from outside the state to engage the industry/network.

Setzler was firm on making a ‘market driven’ space economy in Georgia independent of an

“appropriations driven” culture reliant on federal funding.

Group Discussion #1 - Launch Services

The moderator Mariel Borowitz began the discussion with:

“How can Georgia provide a meaningful impact in the development of operations of space systems, payload services, and space operations?”

Mr. Preble noted that launch services market is heating up. Launch sites in South America, will drive the market in his opinion.

Bob Scaringe noted there were two opportunities – the Camden County Spaceport coupled with a transportation infrastructure that could provide quick access by companies locating in Georgia to other launch facilities along the Atlantic coast. Also with any influx of large companies then

(14)

suppliers to assist the major players will follow; much like we have seen with the new KIA plant in West Point.

Mike Mealling noted that the SE Georgia location is our advantage with quick access to major NASA center in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Virginia.

Marty Broadwell of GTRI noted that the operations/servicing of the vehicles are where most of the money is – so how do we connect the launch to the rest of the support system? It was noted by several in the group that space launch is a small percentage of the total space market, but the conversation turned back to focus on the launch site.

Steve Howard from Camden noted that there is ‘low hanging fruit’ for a launch site in Georgia, so Steve Justice asked “Is it so compelling that we would kick ourselves if we don’t succeed?”

The response was that Kennedy Space Center views Camden as their chief competition – that KSC thinks it is the best ‘greenfield’ site for launches on the east coast. Steve Howard noted that this is a ‘slam dunk’ because they are rehabilitating a past industrial park, which also presents opportunities to site the supporting activities close to the launch site itself.

Dan Murray asked “What would the future look like without the Camden county site?”

Roadmap for the future would be more complicated in his opinion.

Question to Steve Howard again was “What help do you need? Answer – none right now.

Bobby Braun noted that we can begin now to build a communication plan to tell others “Why Camden?” and putting together plans to recruit other industries/companies to the state. Steve Howard mentioned that some of that has already been done.

Darel Preble talked about putting a “Lunar Camp” in Georgia – he wants to put animals and plants on the moon first, before people, in preparation for when people live there. He thinks this

‘energizes the kids’ to think about doing things differently. He also thinks that electromagnetic launch systems at the site should be considered.

John Bradford noted the need to get other companies to come here to build a ‘critical mass’ for continued investment and growth.

Group Discussion #2 - Space Systems and Operations Mariel Borowitz focused on the question:

“What are we missing? What should we prioritize?”

There was a brief discussion surrounding Georgia’s strengths:

 Quality of Life

 Low Cost of Living

(15)

 Right to Work

 Universities – e.g. aerospace engineers at Georgia Tech

 Logistics infrastructure

 Synergy with Aviation Industry

 Open space – the largest state east of the Mississippi

 Large amount of other related industry and university research

 Geographically located in the middle of existing NASA space center and facilities in Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi

Bobby Braun noted we are at the geographic center of the current space ecosystem- Huntsville, Stennis, and Kennedy - so we could be the anchor for a Regional Consortium at some point.

Darel Preble commented on our using our “imagination resources” – such as DragonCon – to reach the public. He thinks they should be part of a primary communication strategy

There was more discussion about what Georgia is missing –that we have many of the parts, but it hasn’t come together yet. Bobby Braun mentioned that time has changed some things – most of the successful states have NASA sites/ecosystem. Our past weakness could be a strength

because we don’t have the NASA heritage.

Bobby Braun then went on to make two strong points:

 We aren't among the top states in the new commercial space industry.

 We need to separate ‘space’ from ‘aerospace’ to make sure that everyone understands we aren’t doing well in the space industry.

Mike Mealling offered that we are missing “Intentionality” and “Leadership.”

The moderator asked “What would that leadership do?” and the response was:

 More political participation – see the Governor say that increasing space is a goal of the state, and develop political leverage. Also help create a ‘statement’ by business

leaders/political leaders about making space a priority.

 State should offer incentives for space related companies. Goal of 100 startups should be set (suggested by Bobby Braun).

 It was noted that we are competing with states that offer large economic development grants and we need some way to counter that.

The question was asked as to what types of companies should the state target for recruitment?

 Types of companies include small companies that complement existing industry and new start-ups.

(16)

 Mike Mealling suggested that we strive to get the end users of space products here in the state. Some could already be here; we should identify those first.

 Darel Preble suggested that “Skylon” (a design by a British company that is still in development) is the “Porsche’ of the space world and that Georgia should recruit them.

Group Discussion #3 – Outreach

Mariel Borowitz began the discussion with the question:

“Who do we want to communicate with?”

That started a free form discussion that noted we needed to speak to:

Internal Audiences:

 Students (all levels)

 Startups

 Existing companies

 Local Governments

External Audiences:

 Industry

 Congress

 Space Executives

 Site Selection Consultants

Steve Justice noted that we are already doing some communicating:

 Legislative Days at State Capitol

 National Congressional Staff Visits

 Media interviews

Bob Scaringe suggested that we target the executives of space companies who are GT grads and send the press releases to them. He also suggested that we need to find the site selection

committees of the various companies that we want to attract to Georgia – 15-20 Tier 1 companies and noted “….’realistically, GDEcD is not going to do this…”We’re not on the map…”

Bobby Braun noted the obvious need to tailor the message to what the audience is. He repeated the goal of 100 startups and noted that we are “…not growing companies in the state fast

enough.” He also advocated a coordinated three prong strategy. When asked for more details, he indicated he wanted to see a single POC for Space – not criticizing Center of Innovation for Aerospace (COIA), but he wants someone ‘full time’ tied to GDEcD and the Governor. He appreciates what COIA has done, but believes it has an important full-time “aviation” job and may not have the resources for “space.” He also suggested that there should be someone responsible for the state’s space “PR strategy”.

There was a wide ranging discussion of specific action we could take, including:

 Host an national space conference

(17)

 Get more people to attend the Space Working Group meetings and more political awareness

 Have the governor set Space as a goal for the state

 Have Georgia senators speaking up about this in Congress

 Adopt a Zero G, Zero tax law

 Put out a statement by Space Working Group or others

 Offer significant incentives for startups (like the incentives that helped bring the film industry to GA)

 Give foreign rent checks to companies

 Deal with infrastructure, tax issues

 Develop incubators

 Create more slots for our students and opportunities that allow us to keep them after they graduate

 Attract big companies that want to be close to a launch provider (who are the customers for the launch facilities in GA)

 Get capital

 Get a spaceport

 Reach out to more groups

 Publicize efforts at Georgia Tech and CSTAR – build on things we’re already doing

 Colorado in the 1990s realized how much aerospace they had and wanted to take action to keep it – created an office of the Space Advocate and the Colorado Space Business roundtable. There was a suggestion from the group that we should emulate Colorado and put together a Space Business Roundtable that meets monthly.

 There are 10-12 states with active space groups (CA, FL, CO, etc.) that we could learn from.

In terms of communication, there was also discussion of improving general awareness by showing up at conferences, getting the word out about ongoing activities, strengthening the case internally and externally for space in GA

In discussing the spaceport, they said what they needed was support, and preparation so that they could ‘hit the ground running.’ Someone suggested a website that would be ready to launch when the announcement is made explaining “Why Camden” and “Why Georgia”. Steve Howard from Camden Country noted that such a website is in development for the Camden Spaceport.

There was a comment that space activities grow on themselves, the more we do, the more activity we’ll be able to attract. We should look for big, visible space projects and

accomplishments, getting articles and videos in the news, and convincing more companies to move here. The launch site can be an anchor tenant with feeder companies coming in around it.

Some suggested also reaching out to tier 1 and 2 companies in the industry, though this is not in the current marketing strategy of the state. There was a sense that we didn’t need to focus on one particular portion of the space sector – just welcome all comers and create a general space center of mass. We should catch companies while they’re still growing

(18)

The last portion of the discussion centered on the potential to draw space-related technical conferences to Atlanta. The discussion trailed off with the observation from Bobby Braun that AIAA SciTech 2016 (January 2016) was looking for a home, and that other conferences would be hard to dislodge.

The meeting concluded at 4PM.

(19)

Appendix A - Summit Agenda

8:30 AM – 9:30 AM

Welcome & Introductions

 Mr. Steve Justice – Director, COI-Aerospace

 Dr. Robert Braun – Director, GT C-STAR

 Dr. Steve Cross – GT EVP for Research

9:30 AM - 10:15 AM

Panel #1 - Academic and Organizational Perspectives on Georgia Space

 Dr. Robert Braun – Georgia Tech

 Mr. Mike Mealling - Georgia Space Society

 Dr. Stephen Ruffin - Georgia Space Grant Consortium 10:15 AM - 10:30 AM Networking Break

10:30 AM - 11:15 AM

Panel #2 - Industrial and Investor Perspectives on Georgia Space

 Mr. Michael Blake - Habif, Arogeti & Wynne

 Dr. John Bradford - SpaceWorks

 Mr. Stephen Fleming - GT Enterprise Innovation Institute

 Mr. Jacob Vallo - Amsterdam Capital

11:15 AM to 12 Noon

Panel #3 - Government & Legal Perspectives on Georgia Space

 Mr. Steve Howard - Camden County

 Mr. Steve Justice - Center of Innovation for Aerospace

 Rep. Ed Setzler – GA House of Representatives

 Mr. Robert Turner - 360 Venture Law

12 Noon - 1:00 PM Lunch (to be provided)

1:00 PM - 1:45 PM Group Discussion #1 - Launch Services 1:45 PM – 2:00 PM Networking Break

2:00 PM – 2:45 PM Group Discussion #2 - Space Systems and Operations 2:45 PM – 3:00 PM Networking Break

3:00 PM – 3:45 PM Group Discussion #3 - Outreach 3:45 PM – 4:00 PM Recap & Adjourn

(20)

Appendix B – Participants

Last Name First Name Organization

Borowitz Mariel

GT Sam Nunn School of International Affairs

Blake Michael Habif, Arogeti & Wynne, LLP

Bradford John Space Works

Braun Bobby Georgia Tech

Fleming Stephen Georgia Tech

Howard Steve Camden County

Justice Steve Center of Innovation for Aerospace Mealling Michael PipeFish Inc.

Ruffin Steve Georgia Tech

Setzler Rep. Ed GA House of Representatives

Turner Robert 360 Venture Law

Vallo Jacob Amsterdam Capital

Cross Steve Georgia Tech

Brownell Shirlynn Centers of Innovation Nuckolls David Centers of Innovation

Price Dawn Centers of Innovation

Averill John IOA Aerospace Division Broadwell Marty Georgia Tech

Cohen Morris Georgia Tech

Cotterman Bruce BAS Group

Cruzen Shawn Coca-Cola Space Science Center Depasquale Dominic Terminal Velocity Aerospace Edwards Stephen Georgia Tech

Fields Lee Habif, Arogeti & Wynne, LLP Garmestani Hamid Georgia Tech

Greer David Phoenix Air

Greeson Brad Amsterdam Capital

Hardy Joe Joe Hardy Law

Land Hudson Columbus Homeland Security

Land Riley Columbus Homeland Security

Linsey Julie Georgia Tech

Luke David Merrick

Maderer Jason Georgia Tech

Maher Laween Sparket LLC

Murray Dan Mercer Engineering Research Center Myers Elisabeth LM Space Systems

O'Neill Gary Center of Innovation for Aerospace

(21)

Last Name First Name Organization Preble Darel Space Solar Power Institute

Ready Jud Georgia Tech

Richards Jim

Robinson Tim Full Spectrum Logistics

Scaringe Bob AVG Communications

Söhnlein Guillermo Georgia Tech

Tallmadge Robert TAAS Company

Tang Elizabeth Georgia Tech

Williams Caleb Ad Spatium

Georgia Space Leadership Summit

Proceedings of the