Rocket Fuel: Drinking from the SMD firehose
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Welcome to Rocket Fuel, a periodic column on what I'm hearing around town, interesting aerospace news that didn't make it in the newsletter, or topics on my radar planned for future coverage.
We've landed at Friday.
Why it matters: It's been a week. The Space and Missile Defense Symposium kicked off Tuesday and wrapped up yesterday, bringing the big players in those spaces to Huntsville.
- It's my second year covering SMD, and this year's event, which organizers said is likely to be the biggest in the symposium's nearly three-decade run, felt a lot newsier than last year.
Zoom in: Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman kicked things off with big announcements, and the symposium came right on the heels of Redwire's groundbreaking and Frontgrade Technologies and Duotech's local openings.
- Huntsville's Invariant announced the successful integration of its FireFLY sensor and integrated AI-driven architecture for counter-UAS on Wednesday.
- Moog announced yesterday the opening of a significant Huntsville expansion for its Hardware-In-The-Loop lab for hypersonic testing.
- RTX on Monday announced a $745-million contract for interceptor production, work that will be split between its Huntsville and Tucson locations.
Zoom out: Even Gen. Michael Guetlein, Golden Dome lead, announced the new Golden Dome for America Hub while on stage at SMD.
- And I know there's some announcements I missed.
Yes, but: There's more in the pipeline, Axios heard on the floor and the sidelines, including L.A.-based high-tech manufacturer Machina Labs saying Huntsville is a "top contender" for its next factory.
What we're watching: Gen. Stephen Whiting told reporters the total budget for Space Command's new headquarters on Redstone Arsenal is $951 million and encouraged local industry to get in on the action.
- He also teased a Colorado Springs-Huntsville development he said wasn't his to announce.
The bottom line: There were plenty of headlines flowing out of the Von Braun Center this week, but it feels like just the beginning.