Huntsville, Ala. — The new Boeing facility in North Alabama is larger than a football field, and that may just be the least impressive thing about it.
The enormous 80,000 square foot facility (A football field is a paltry 57,600 sq.ft.) is described as the home of “future aerospace solutions,” perhaps even including space flight.
According to a press release from Boeing, the 220 engineers employed by the center will develop state-of-the-art technologies including simulation and analytics, metals and ceramics propulsion, avionics systems and analysis, and communication.
“The next 100 years of innovation starts here,” said the facility’s leader Steve Swaine. “We’ve brought together a team made up of the best and brightest in data analytics, advanced engineering and many other disciplines to help Boeing create, develop, produce and support the best aerospace products in the world.”
Between Airbus in Mobile, NASA, Boeing, United Launch Alliance, and multiple other aerospace contractors in the Huntsville area, Alabama is quickly becoming the space and flight headquarters of the Southeast—if not the country.
During the Paris Air Show two weeks ago, Alabama leaders in attendance announced multiple huge new projects coming to the state, including a new Hutchinson Corporation “Aerospace Manufacturing Center of Excellence” in Mobile, and a set of preliminary studies to determine the state’s ability to land Sierra Nevada Corporation’s (SNC) Dream Chaser reusable spacecraft at Huntsville International Airport.
Add to that Huntsville being named the best city in the country for Engineers earlier this year, and you start to see a really clear picture of Alabama’s future:
With all this new momentum and development, putting a man on the Moon 46 years ago may be just the beginning of Alabama’s aerospace dominance.
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— Elizabeth BeShears (@LizEBeesh) January 21, 2015
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