Utah competed to host the Space Shuttle program more than 50 years ago.The state has an emerging aerospace industry with designs on creating a spaceport.Private industry has supplanted government in driving space-related advancements.

More than 50 years ago, a handful of states were competing to host research and launch facilities for what would become the U.S. Space Shuttle program, and Utah was very much in the mix.

For a moment, at least.

In 1971, Utah lawmakers passed a proposal to create a “Space Port Committee.” The group of business leaders, politicians, scientists and engineers was to make the state’s best argument for becoming the new home for what was then the world’s first reusable spacecraft that launched on a rocket but landed back on Earth like an airplane.

Utah would lose out to Cape Canaveral, Florida, and all 135 Space Shuttle flights would later lift off from the coastal city’s Kennedy Space Center.

The countdown startsOxEon Energy CEO Joseph Hartvigsen gives a tour of the OxEon Energy headquarters in North Salt Lake on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News

But now, the Beehive State is ready to take another run at hosting its own space launch facility and this time the effort is entirely homegrown. And it lifts off amid a local aerospace and defense sector that has evolved dramatically over the past five decades and now accounts for a fifth of the state’s overall GDP.

Earlier this year, a bill, SB62, to create the Spaceport Exploration Committee drew overwhelming bipartisan support from state lawmakers and set the table for a year-long effort to assess the feasibility of a Utah-based space vehicle launch facility.

The 13-member committee, co-chaired by Sen. Ann Millner, R-Ogden, and Utah Department of Transportation executive director Carlos Braceras, is tasked with establishing “key objectives that the state should pursue in establishing a spaceport” and includes conducting a feasibility study, spaceport site assessment and evaluating Utah’s relative advantages and disadvantages.

“I’ve been engaged in meeting the needs of our growing aerospace and defense industry for many many years in different roles,” Millner said. “This is a next step in that process. Utah has competed before. And, as we looked at and had conversations with companies out there, the message is clear that space is part of our future and industry will be driving our space launches and be used for many more needs than in the past.”

In a Deseret News op-ed, Sen. Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton, who sponsored the legislation, noted the aerospace and defense industry accounts for 20% of the state’s economy and employs nearly 300,000 people. He made the case for Utah’s readiness to join the 10 other states that host facilities designated as “spaceports” by the Federal Aviation Administration.

“Why Utah? The answer is simple: Utah’s aerospace ecosystem is already soaring, and we’re about to take it to a whole new altitude,” Stevenson wrote. “Our existing aerospace infrastructure provides a solid foundation, while our geographic advantages — clear airspace, favorable weather and excellent transportation networks — make us an ideal candidate.”

Launching into ‘newspace’47G CEO Aaron Starks looks on during an interview at the OxEon Energy headquarters in North Salt Lake on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News

Aaron Starks, spaceport committee member and president and CEO of Utah aerospace and defense advocacy group 47G, told the Deseret News that fast-rising demand is creating exciting new opportunities in space-related operations.

“We know that the U.S. Defense Department and commercial enterprises are experiencing bottleneck conditions when it comes to launch services,” Starks said. “There’s not enough launch facilities or capacity in the United States and we think Utah is positioned really well to release some of that bottleneck and provide new, enhanced ways to develop test technology.”

While once the exclusive domain of government entities, the global space economy is now mostly driven by commercial enterprises and is a sector, sometimes referred to as “newspace” that’s been expanding at a breakneck rate, topping $630 billion in 2023. A 2024 report from McKinsey & Company projects the space economy will outstrip world GDP growth by 200% in the coming years and is on pace to reach $1.8 trillion by 2035.

The McKinsey report suggests that while many observers may still perceive space operations as driven by moon landing efforts or preparations for interplanetary travel, the newspace economy is one made up of more mundane and broad-based commercial activities.

“While mega rocket launches and record spaceflights are the headlines that capture the public’s imagination, routine rocket launches and satellite data services are, in fact, the product of decades of behind-the-scenes innovation,” wrote McKinsey senior partner Ryan Brukardt and Jeremy Jurgens, managing director of World Economic Forum.

“And they are delivering greater benefits to a more diverse set of stakeholders than ever before — including in industries as varied as food and beverage; retail, consumer goods and lifestyle; supply chain and transportation; and even climate disaster mitigation.”

Rock solid space credentialsOxEon Energy CEO Joseph Hartvigsen gives a tour of the OxEon Energy headquarters in North Salt Lake on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News

Some of the biggest names in the aerospace industry have a Utah presence including Northrop Grumman, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, L3Harris and others, and the state’s connections to the business of space tracks back to the industry’s advent.

Highlights of Utah’s long history of space bona fides includes upper atmospheric research work Utah State University did 1950s, the early seeds of what would become the institution’s massive Space Dynamics Lab; the state’s previous competition with Florida’s Kennedy Space Center to host the Space Shuttle program; and the increasing use of the Defense Department’s Dugway Proving Ground in the west desert as a preferred destination for both private and public space flight operations.

Utah is rife with aerospace heavy hitters but Starks notes companies with names you’ve probably never heard of are powering the engine of new space, in much the same way the state’s 300,000-plus small businesses drive Utah’s booming economy.

“In the state of Utah, we lead the nation in (Small Business Administration) lending per capita,” Starks said. “Why is that important? Because this industry, unlike others, is being dominated by small- and mid-market companies doing innovative things that are all looking to build their headquarters and establish a presence in states that share that same thesis for growth.”

Science fiction becomes science factComponents of OxEon’s Fischer Tropsch reactor are displayed during a tour of the OxEon Energy headquarters in North Salt Lake on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News

OxEon Energy can count itself among those smaller companies finding success in Utah and its groundbreaking innovations are turning processes once reserved for the world of science fiction into science fact.

OxEon sprang to life in 2017 but its founders have been engaged for the last 30 years in researching and developing solid oxide fuel cells, with the last 15 years focused on the development and improvement of solid oxide electrolyzers. Their systems can extract critical components from the atmosphere or liquids that can be converted into fuels. OxEon’s systems are being designed for a wide variety of earth-bound and even extraterrestrial deployments, as the company proved out as part of NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover mission.

OxEon’s technology powered the MOXIE (Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment) which traveled to the Red Planet aboard Perseverance and was able to extract and capture oxygen from the Martian atmosphere, a critical element for both life support and rocket fuel which typically combines oxygen with methane or hydrogen to power space travel.

For fans of science fiction author Andy Weir’s “The Martian”, which follows the trials of an astronaut stranded on Mars, MOXIE may sound a lot like the “oxygenator” device from the book. Weir’s oxygenator, like OxEon’s technology, uses an electrolysis process to produce oxygen from Martian carbon dioxide and helps keep the protagonist Mark Watney alive.

In a 2023 press release, NASA celebrated MOXIE’s success, describing the experiment as one that exceeded expectations and proved out critical new technology that would be required to maintain life and create fuel in the Martian environment.

“MOXIE’s impressive performance shows that it is feasible to extract oxygen from Mars’ atmosphere — oxygen that could help supply breathable air or rocket propellant to future astronauts,” said NASA deputy administrator Pam Melroy. “Developing technologies that let us use resources on the moon and Mars is critical to build a long-term lunar presence, create a robust lunar economy, and allow us to support an initial human exploration campaign to Mars.”

During a Deseret News tour of OxEon’s research and manufacturing facilities in North Salt Lake, the company’s co-founders shared a peek at their cutting-edge technology which includes systems that can convert sea water into jet fuel and another process that makes fuel out of food waste.

OxEon co-founder and chief operating officer Jessica Elwell said in-situ, or on-site, fuel production capabilities will be absolutely essential for extending space travel into the deeper regions of our solar system, and beyond.

“It’s really important to be able to produce fuel or electricity on site, because the cost of bringing the materials you need with you is prohibitive,” Elwell said. “Also, the volume alone is staggering. What they would need in terms of fuel for a return mission from Mars, the volume is about the same size as a space shuttle, so it’s a considerable cost savings.

“The logistics themselves just get much simpler and the materials are available there. So we’ve been working on developing these technologies where we can use what’s there and produce what’s needed for fuel and life support.”

A future of possibilitiesAn electrical panel in the OxEon Energy headquarters in North Salt Lake on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News

Millner, former president of Weber State University and a Utah legislator for the past decade, has been a champion of Utah-based technological developments like those coming out of OxEon throughout her career. She said exploring the feasibility of a Utah-based spaceport reflects the responsibility to nurture a fast-growing part of the state’s economy.

She also underscored the state’s readiness to find the best pathways to up the ante on its space-related commitments.

“I think we have a really solid foundation in terms of both preparation and workforce in the aerospace and defense industry along with the research work we’ve done,” Millner said. “The alignment of a project like this will only accelerate those possibilities in the future.”

Millner said she’s excited to begin the work of the Spaceport Exploration Committee, which is scheduled to hold its inaugural meeting July 28. She said she’s looking forward to a robust process that will examine the economic realities of a spaceport project and prioritize public input on the path to a possible recommendation due by September, 2026.

“Utah is home to a growing and thriving economy that’s earned number one rankings in many areas,” Millner said. “There’s no reason we can’t lead in the space industry as well.

“I love working on big picture issues that will make a difference over the coming decades and am excited to roll my sleeves up and work with this committee to create a plan that is in the best interest of the state of Utah.”

Tyler Hafen inspects a component of a solid oxide electrolysis cell at the OxEon Energy headquarters in North Salt Lake on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News