The Orlando Economic Partnership returned to the Farnborough International Airshow, one of the aerospace industry\u2019s premier global events.<\/p>\n
Held every two years, the Farnborough International Airshow<\/a> brings together industry leaders and community partners from around the world to explore emerging technologies and discuss the future of flight.<\/p>\n Renowned for its global reach and influence, Farnborough serves as a key platform for advancing the Orlando 2045 Vision of becoming a top 10 innovation hub while answering a question that surfaced repeatedly for aerospace & defense companies expanding:<\/p>\n Where do you build next?<\/p>\n While Orlando is often recognized for its leisure and hospitality industries, industry leaders know it as a highly connected aviation and aerospace ecosystem built on talent, technical capabilities, infrastructure, and strategic partnerships.<\/p>\n Across conversations on the show floor, those were the exact assets companies said they need to grow, and the Orlando region is uniquely positioned to deliver them.<\/p>\n Talent Drives Decisions<\/p>\n Workforce remains one of the industry\u2019s biggest challenges.<\/p>\n The Orlando region has developed the fourth-largest aerospace and defense talent pipeline among large U.S. metros, strengthening its position as a leading destination for aerospace innovation and workforce development.<\/p>\n The University of Central Florida has awarded more than 1,000 bachelor\u2019s degrees in aerospace engineering over the past five academic years and continues to expand research and workforce development in autonomy, cybersecurity, propulsion, sensing, advanced manufacturing, and space technologies. Recognized repeatedly as one of the nation\u2019s leading workforce suppliers to the aerospace and defense industry, UCF plays a critical role in meeting Florida\u2019s growing demand for engineering talent.<\/p>\n An Aerospace Ecosystem Built Over Decades<\/p>\n Orlando\u2019s advantage is not a single company or institution. It is the concentration of capabilities throughout the region.<\/p>\n The area is home to:<\/p>\n Team Orlando\u2019s co-located Army, Navy, and Air Force simulation commands<\/p>\n Approximately $6 billion annually in modeling, simulation, and training contracts<\/p>\n Central Florida Research Park, with more than 140 companies<\/p>\n Major industry employers including Boeing, L3Harris, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed Martin<\/p>\n Modeling, simulation, and training established Orlando\u2019s aerospace reputation. Today, those same capabilities support the region\u2019s growing innovation ecosystem.<\/p>\n Innovation Across the Aerospace Sector<\/p>\n Many technologies highlighted at Farnborough already have a presence in Orlando.<\/p>\n In hypersonics, UCF researchers developed the first hypersonic rotating detonation rocket engine and are advancing HiHYPER, a Department of Defense-funded high-hypersonic propulsion testing facility at UCF.<\/p>\n In advanced air mobility, the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority recently approved plans for a vertistop at Orlando International Airport, supporting future eVTOL demonstrations and a planned on airport vertiport by 2030.<\/p>\n The region also benefits from a growing concentration of expertise in autonomous systems, sensing technologies, optics, photonics, cybersecurity, and advanced aviation infrastructure.<\/p>\n Proximity Matters<\/p>\n UCF sits just 35 miles from Florida\u2019s Space Coast, placing the Orlando region within one of the world\u2019s most active aerospace corridors. As launch activity grows, much of the supporting engineering, optics, simulation, and satellite systems work occurs throughout Orlando.<\/p>\n Orlando International Airport further strengthens the region\u2019s connectivity, serving 170+ nonstop destinations worldwide, including direct service to the United Kingdom through Terminal C.<\/p>\n The Takeaway from Farnborough<\/p>\n Whether the conversation centered on advanced air mobility, autonomous systems, cybersecurity, or simulation, the underlying requirements were the same: talent, infrastructure, research capabilities, and industry partnerships.<\/p>\n The Orlando region delivers all four.<\/p>\n The sum of these strengths directly supports the Orlando 2045 Vision, which positions innovation-driven industries as critical to the region\u2019s future and sets an ambitious goal of becoming a Top 10 Global Innovation Hub.<\/p>\n Aerospace and aviation are central to that effort, driving investment, high-wage job creation, research commercialization, and global competitiveness. As companies consider where to invest and grow, Farnborough reinforced a simple reality:<\/p>\n The future of aerospace is built through connected ecosystems, and Orlando is leading the way.<\/p>\n About the Farnborough International Airshow<\/p>\n The Farnborough International Airshow remains the leader in connecting the world of aerospace, hosting some of the largest and most successful events in an ever-changing aviation industry. Learn more.<\/a><\/p>\n About the Orlando Economic Partnership<\/p>\n The Orlando Economic Partnership is the Orlando region\u2019s champion for economic prosperity, bringing together leaders, industries and ideas to expand opportunities and drive investment. Our vision is to be the next global creative capital. Learn more.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Orlando Economic Partnership returned to the Farnborough International Airshow, one of the aerospace industry\u2019s premier global events.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":357786,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-357785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=357785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357785\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/357786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=357785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=357785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=357785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}