PHOENIX — Arizona already builds satellites, missile systems, and technology headed for space. Now, a newly released Arizona Space Blueprint argues the state has a relatively short window to turn those assets into a much bigger piece of the growing space economy.
The 2026 Arizona Space Blueprint was developed by the group Space Rising after the Arizona Space Congress was held in Phoenix in late spring. The organization says the report is a mix of all the information gathered during the Arizona Space Congress workshops and discussions back in April, along with statewide industry data.
The headline finding is simple: Arizona already has the pieces. The challenge is putting them together.
According to the report, Arizona ranks first nationally in the concentration of guided missile and space vehicle manufacturing employment. It also points to more than $2.8 billion in aerospace and defense expansion investment over the past five years and more than 60 aerospace and defense expansions announced in the state.
The Arizona Commerce Authority independently lists Arizona No. 1 nationally for the concentration of guided missile and space vehicle manufacturing and among the country's leaders in aerospace and defense manufacturing employment.
A warning: Arizona's window may be short
The Blueprint argues Arizona has roughly three to five years to establish itself as one of the country's major space-economy hubs.
Its final assessment is unusually direct: the next several years could determine whether Arizona moves into the top tier of space states or watches states including Texas, Florida and California strengthen their lead.
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That echoes something Space Rising co-founder Taryn Struck told ABC15's Kaley O'Kelley months before the Blueprint was released.
During an April interview ahead of the Arizona Space Congress, Struck told O'Kelley, Arizona already had many of the assets necessary to compete but needed to work together.
“We have so much here, and we just need to move as a unit and as a state,” Struck said.
She later identified coordination as the state's biggest challenge.
The newly released Blueprint reaches a similar conclusion. It says Arizona has manufacturing capability, universities, military assets, research and talent but does not yet have the coordinated system needed to scale them together.
