face_eater_5000 t1_j67bqy5 wrote on January 28, 2023 at 5:52 AM

I recently moved here but still work 100% remote for my aerospace employer in Texas. My take is that Pennsylvania could seriously use an injection of Aerospace and space jobs. Maybe there is something that can be done at the state level? Not sure, but the state could attract a lot of talent if they took the initiative. I'd jump onboard any effort to make that happen.

Atrocious_1 t1_j68rcbd wrote on January 28, 2023 at 3:40 PM

You'd have to convince the Republican legislature to not strip education funding fifteen years ago

face_eater_5000 t1_j69d09d wrote on January 28, 2023 at 6:09 PM

Yeah, but you could import people. Texas imports a lot of aerospace talent from elsewhere.

Atrocious_1 t1_j69fhwp wrote on January 28, 2023 at 6:26 PM

Ok, sure. That's a possibility.

Now, there are other issues. PA isn't in a position to launch rockets. There's a reason it's all done in FL and TX, and that's not taxes, it's geography.

Then there's the issue where PA doesn't have the same sort of relationship with the military.

You'd need to change a huge amount of the culture. Really, it'd be better to heavily invest in tech, possibly semiconductor manufacturing, and software. There are plenty of places ripe for it.

face_eater_5000 t1_j6hbtfy wrote on January 30, 2023 at 9:15 AM

Texas wasn't a place where launches occurred until SpaceX set up their Starbase in Brownsville. Thiokol corporation made the Shuttle booster rockets in Utah, where no launches occur. As a matter of fact, Cambridge, MA was under consideration to be the location for Mission Control before Houston. There are a number of aerospace companies in Maryland, which doesn't have any launch facilities either. I've seen interesting aerospace companies pop up in places that I would never have expected. Hermeus Aerospace comes to mind - they are in Georgia. Space Tango is in North Carolina. There is absolutely no reason why Pennsylvania couldn't have a robust aerospace industry. It has good universities and pretty good proximity to other good schools out of state. It's much more a matter of wanting it. I see the potential.