Tag: Seattle Space Week

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Seattle space ventures face problems and prospects

Varda space capsule on display in foreground of conference hall, with attendees milling about in the background
Dale Goulding, chief operating officer at Forge Digital, chats with Michael Reilly, chief strategy officer at Varda Space Industries, at the Space Northwest Symposium in Federal Way, Wash. One of Varda’s orbital capsules is on display in front of them. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle)

How high can Washington state’s space industry rise?

Preliminary findings suggest that the economic impact of the state’s space sector more than doubled between 2018 and 2022, and nearly doubled again between 2022 and now. But at the same time, some leaders of the space community are questioning whether the Pacific Northwest can keep pace with other regional clusters in, say, Florida, Texas and Colorado.

That good news, bad news situation made headlines this week when Stoke Space CEO Andy Lapsa questioned whether he’d pick the Seattle area as his home base if he had to do it over — just before taking the stage as a member of Gov. Bob Ferguson’s Washington Space Council.

Ferguson isn’t the only elected official trying to make sure the Seattle area keeps up on the space frontier. Dana Ralph, the mayor of Kent, Wash., where Stoke is headquartered, made that clear in her remarks during the kickoff for Seattle Space Week at the Museum of Flight.

“We don’t take you for granted,” said Ralph, addressing a gathering of CEOs, investors and other VIPs. “I want you to hear that out loud: We don’t take you for granted.”

Seattle Space Week — highlighted by the Space Northwest Symposium in Federal Way — provided plenty of opportunities for discussing the challenges facing Washington state’s space ventures. Here are four problems to face, and four prospects to look forward to…

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That’s one giant leap for Washington’s space industry

Illustration: Washington state map with space company logos scattered across the territory
Analysts have traced the economic impact produced by scores of space ventures in Washington state. (Space Northwest Illustration)

The preliminary results of a study commissioned by Space Northwest, an association focused on regional space ventures, suggest that Washington state’s space economy contributes $8.1 billion in direct economic output annually.

The newly reported figures show that the space industry’s economic impact in the Evergreen State has nearly doubled since a similar study in 2022. That earlier report also documented a doubling effect over the course of four years, from $1.8 billion in 2018 to $4.6 billion in 2022.

Kelly Maloney, Space Northwest’s co-founder and the chair of the association’s board of directors, shared the latest figures today at the Space Northwest Symposium in Federal Way, Wash. She said the preliminary findings, developed by BERK Consulting and Alliance Velocity, reinforce the view that space is not just a niche industry in Washington. “We are effectively the Space Tech State,” Maloney said.

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Seattle Space Week provides a peek at hypersonic blaster

Wave Motion founders show off Jet Gun in back of truck
Wave Motion co-founders James Penna and Finn van Donkelaar show off their Jet Gun in the back of a truck. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle)

Most weeklong tech events have opportunities for entrepreneurs to make contacts and trade tips, serious sessions where CEOs and public officials share their visions, and happy hours where future deals are made. But how many “tech weeks” include a show-and-tell featuring a military-grade Jet Gun?

That was one of the bonus attractions during Seattle Space Week, a smorgasbord of events served up by Space Northwest and its partners.

Just as attendees were sitting down for Monday’s opening session at the Pioneer Building in the heart of Pioneer Square, team members from Wave Motion Launch Corp. parked a box truck just outside the building and opened up the back to reveal the prototype jet blaster they’re testing for the U.S. Army.

Two of the Everett, Wash.-based startup’s co-founders, CEO Finn van Donkelaar and chief operating officer James Penna, stood in the truck and explained their project to a crowd that gathered around on the sidewalk.

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