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| INTRODUCTION |
The Mississippi Gulf Coast is well known for its tourism and
shipbuilding industries. Less well known is its role in the aerospace
industry, which is considerable and growing. It dates back to the 1960s
with the establishment of a NASA rocket test facility, and continues to
this day with the recent opening of one of the newest unmanned aerial
vehicle plants in the world.
South Mississippi's aerospace footprint has all the expected
characteristics: some of the biggest names in the industry have operations
here; it has a capable work force and training programs,
aerospace-focused technology parks, business incubators - the list is long.
But what may be more significant is the way it all "fits together."
Consider this: South Mississippi has leading-edge research and practical
experience with composites that go into aircraft; it has the plants that use
composites to make fixed-wing and rotary unmanned aircraft; it builds the
next generation of warships that will launch robot aircraft; it has the
satellite makers whose high-flying craft and remote sensors are key to
command and control as well as surveillance; it has the companies that
build the engines that power spacecraft; it has the engine testing facilities.
As one defense company executive said: "I think you're finding our
futures really are coming together here in quite an unusual way."
With a high quality of life and low cost of doing business, the
Mississippi Gulf Coast has been a contender for some of the most
high-profile projects in the aerospace industry.
Next: Part I Geography
shipbuilding industries. Less well known is its role in the aerospace
industry, which is considerable and growing. It dates back to the 1960s
with the establishment of a NASA rocket test facility, and continues to
this day with the recent opening of one of the newest unmanned aerial
vehicle plants in the world.
South Mississippi's aerospace footprint has all the expected
characteristics: some of the biggest names in the industry have operations
here; it has a capable work force and training programs,
aerospace-focused technology parks, business incubators - the list is long.
But what may be more significant is the way it all "fits together."
Consider this: South Mississippi has leading-edge research and practical
experience with composites that go into aircraft; it has the plants that use
composites to make fixed-wing and rotary unmanned aircraft; it builds the
next generation of warships that will launch robot aircraft; it has the
satellite makers whose high-flying craft and remote sensors are key to
command and control as well as surveillance; it has the companies that
build the engines that power spacecraft; it has the engine testing facilities.
As one defense company executive said: "I think you're finding our
futures really are coming together here in quite an unusual way."
With a high quality of life and low cost of doing business, the
Mississippi Gulf Coast has been a contender for some of the most
high-profile projects in the aerospace industry.
Next: Part I Geography
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