Plans to build a spaceport in Yuma have taken an important step forward owing to the city’s placement in a National Science Foundation competition.
For months, City of Yuma officials have been advancing the idea of putting up a spaceport on vacant land nearly 20 miles to the southwest near the city of San Luis.
In the spring of 2023, Yuma committed some $250 million in city funds for a licensing application with the Federal Aviation Administration to spur the project along.
Now the city may be on the verge of receiving around $160 million in funding for the effort due to an announcement made by the National Science Foundation. That announcement said that the city is one of just over 70 cities nationally to qualify for support from the Foundation’s Regional Innovation Engines program.
That program is designed to, among other things, spur economic growth in regions of the country that have not previously been a part of the nation’s technology boom.
In announcing the finalists’ list, Erwin Gianchandani, said project winners will ultimately “ensure American competitiveness by accelerating technological innovating and the training of the American workforce for good quality, high-wage jobs.”
In securing a place on the finalists’ list, Yuma will now be eligible to submit a full proposal for its spaceport project this coming February.
As envisioned, the Yuma spaceport would be primarily used as a hub for satellite launches. Proponents of the project have expressed hopes of securing additional federal and state funding, as well as some private giving, to build the spaceport.
City officials have previously said that they would like for the spaceport to be operational by either late 2026 or early 2027.
December 9, 2024
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy City of Yuma
