Colorado is home to almost 500 aerospace-related companies. On Monday, many of them had the chance to show off their work to state lawmakers as part of Aerospace Day at the Capitol.
“We have activity in national security space, civil space, commercial space, not only creating a lot of jobs, (but) creating lot of products and services that benefit all of us,” said Ronald Sega, a professor at Colorado State University and a former astronaut.
More than 27,000 Coloradans are employed in private sector aerospace, and another 28,000 work in military aerospace.
Colorado ranks No. 1 in the nation for per capita private aerospace employment, and is second only to California for total private aerospace employment.
Aerospace Day is also a chance to show students opportunities in aerospace education at Colorado schools including Colorado School of Mines, University of Colorado in Boulder and MSU Denver.
“And it’s evolved from just aerospace engineering and traditional engineering," said Alires Almon from the Colorado Space Business Roundtable. "There's space resources, bioastronautics, all types of opportunities for young people.”
The average worker employed in the aerospace industry in Colorado earns $133,150 a year.