Second Regular Session
Seventy-third General Assembly
STATE OF COLORADO
INTRODUCED
LLS NO. R22-0886.01 Faith Marcovecchio x4331
SJR22-005
Senate Committees House Committees
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 22-005
C
ONCERNING THE DESIGNATION OF MARCH 8, 2022, AS "COLORADO101
A
EROSPACE DAY".102
WHEREAS, Our nation and the world have significantly1
benefitted from technological and scientific advances resulting from2
space exploration and aerospace activities; and3
WHEREAS, Colorado ranks first in the nation for aerospace4
employment concentration; and5
WHEREAS, There are over 34,000 Coloradans who are directly6
employed in aerospace, with the aerospace cluster supporting over7
240,000 jobs; and8
WHEREAS, Colorado is home to the nation's top aerospace9
SENATE SPONSORSHIP
Gardner and Bridges,
HOUSE SPONSORSHIP
Ransom and Valdez D.,
Shading denotes HOUSE amendment. Double underlining denotes SENATE amendment.
Capital letters or bold & italic numbers indicate new material to be added to existing statute.
Dashes through the words indicate deletions from existing statute. companies, including Ball Aerospace, Boeing, L3Harris, Lockheed1
Martin Space, Maxar Technologies, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon,2
Sierra Nevada Corporation, and United Launch Alliance, and close to 5003
additional companies that support the aerospace sector by providing4
services and developing products, including spacecraft, launch vehicles,5
satellites, command and control software, sensors, and navigation6
operations; and7
WHEREAS, Colorado is a strategic location for national space and8
cyber activity, with five key military commands--North American9
Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the United States Northern10
Command, the United States Strategic Command's Joint Functional11
Component Command for Space Missile Warning Center, the United12
States Space Command, and the United States Army Space and Missile13
Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command--and three14
space-related United States Space Force bases--Buckley, Peterson, and15
Schriever; and16
WHEREAS, The United States Air Force Academy, along with17
Colorado's colleges and universities, including the University of Colorado18
Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado School of19
Mines, Colorado State University, Metropolitan State University of20
Denver, University of Denver, Colorado Mesa University, and Fort Lewis21
College, provides access to world-class aerospace-related degrees and22
offers aerospace companies one of the country's most educated23
workforces; and24
WHEREAS, Various organizations are key to Colorado's25
prominence in aerospace, such as the Colorado Space Coalition, a group26
of industry stakeholders working to grow and promote Colorado as a27
center of excellence for aerospace; the Colorado chapter of Citizens for28
Space Exploration, in partnership with the Colorado Space Business29
Roundtable, whose mission is to promote better understanding of30
aerospace and its importance in our economy and daily lives, as well as31
promoting the importance of human space exploration; and the Colorado32
Space Business Roundtable, an organization that works to convene33
stakeholders from industry, government, and academia to advance34
aerospace business and workforce opportunities throughout the state.35
Together they form the Colorado chapter of the Aerospace States36
Association, a nonpartisan organization of lieutenant governors and37
associate members from aerospace organizations and academia who38
represent states' interests in federal aerospace and aviation policy39
SJR22-005
-2- development. Manufacturer's Edge is a statewide manufacturing1
assistance center that encourages the strength and competitiveness of2
Colorado manufacturers by providing on-site technical assistance through3
coaching, training, consulting, collaboration-focused industry programs,4
and leveraging government, university, and economic development5
partnerships; and6
WHEREAS, The Colorado Air and Space Port seeks to serve as7
America's hub for commercial space transportation, research, and8
development; this horizontal launch facility will have the potential to9
become the foundation for a global suborbital transportation network10
connecting Colorado globally; now, therefore,11
Be It Resolved by the Senate of the Seventy-third General12
Assembly of the State of Colorado, the House of Representatives13
concurring herein:14
15
That we, the members of the Colorado General Assembly:16
(1) Strongly urge and request the government of the United States17
of America to take action to preserve and enhance American leadership18
in space, spur innovation, and ensure our continued national and19
economic security by increasing funding for space exploration and20
activities, including aggressively pursuing sending United States21
astronauts and the first woman onto the Moon in the next few years under22
the Artemis program, which will have its uncrewed test flight this month,23
sending along with it the Callisto payload, which uses Amazon Alexa and24
Webex by Cisco to test and demonstrate commercial technology for deep25
space voice, video, and whiteboarding communications. The Callisto26
technology demonstration will be integrated into NASA's Orion27
spacecraft for the agency's Artemis I uncrewed mission. Lockheed Martin28
Space, which designed and built the Orion spacecraft for NASA in29
Colorado, is leading the development and integration of the payload;30
(2) Recognize and appreciate Colorado's space and aerospace31
companies and organizations, especially the growing membership and32
activities of the Colorado chapter of Citizens for Space Exploration, in33
partnership with the Colorado Space Business Roundtable, whose34
activities to promote space exploration are helping to increase public35
understanding and enthusiasm for exploration funding;36
(3) Recognize and support our congressional delegation in urging37
SJR22-005
-3- the Department of Defense to reestablish the United States Space1
Command in Colorado;2
(4) Recognize and appreciate the contributions of Colorado's3
universities, colleges, and national research laboratories to the space and4
aerospace industries, including their expertise in exploration of the5
planets and the universe and their space-based Earth observation, like the6
GOES-T weather satellite that launched this month;7
(5) Express our most sincere and deepest appreciation to the men8
and women working in our military installations in Colorado; and9
(6) Hereby declare March 8, 2022, to be "Colorado Aerospace10
Day".11
Be It Further Resolved, That copies of this Joint Resolution be sent12
to President Joseph Biden, Jr.; Vice President Kamala Harris; Speaker of13
the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi; House Minority Leader14
Kevin McCarthy; Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer; Senate15
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell; Senator John Hickenlooper; Senator16
Michael Bennet; Congresswoman Diana DeGette; Congressman Joe17
Neguse; Congresswoman Lauren Boebert; Congressman Ken Buck;18
Congressman Doug Lamborn; Congressman Jason Crow; Congressman19
Ed Perlmutter; Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator; Bradley Mims, Deputy20
Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration; Governor Jared Polis;21
Lieutenant Governor and Co-chair, Colorado Space Coalition, Dianne22
Primavera; Brigadier General Laura Clellan, The Adjutant General,23
Colorado National Guard; General James Dickinson, Commander, U.S.24
Space Command, and Commander, Air Force Space Command; Colonel25
Marcus Jackson, Buckley Garrison Commander, Buckley Space Force26
Base; Dr. Christopher Scolese, Director, National Reconnaissance Office;27
Ross B. Garelick Bell, Executive Director, Aerospace States Association;28
Thomas E. Zelibor, Chief Executive Officer, Space Foundation; Dr.29
Ronald M. Sega, Co-chair, Colorado Space Coalition; Michael Gass,30
Co-chair, Colorado Space Coalition; Bob Cone, Chair, Colorado Space31
Business Roundtable; Stacey DeFore, Chair, Colorado Citizens for Space32
Exploration; Jeff Kloska, Director, Colorado Air and Space Port; and33
Debbie Brown, President, Colorado Space Business Roundtable.34
SJR22-005
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