California is pursuing a coordinated, state-backed strategy to sustain and grow space manufacturing, with involvement across NASA JPL, Ames, Armstrong, and Vandenberg Space Force Base, plus GO-Biz’s Jobs First Economic Blueprint guiding the effort.

The state centers its approach on retaining and expanding the space industry through targeted incentives, workforce development, and leveraging existing NASA and Space Force assets near Vandenberg and the Space Systems Command, all under a whole-of-government framework to keep California at the forefront of space.

Company leaders point to California’s talent-rich environment as a key draw, highlighting a deep bench of non-software engineers, technicians, and specialists in aerospace, AI, semiconductors, and quantum computing.

Shifts in real estate and cost dynamics are enabling cheaper, flexible setups for space work, with smaller satellites and ample vacant office space supporting rapid constellation deployment.

Mu on Space’s San Jose facility, a 12,000-square-meter site capable of producing up to 500 satellites annually, exemplifies California’s ongoing role as a manufacturing hub with access to talent, suppliers, and proximity to customers.

The ecosystem emphasizes proximity to customers and partners, with a dense network of engineers, technicians, suppliers, and universities that accelerates collaboration from design to production.

California’s regional capability includes Lockheed Martin, Lanteris Space Systems (formerly Maxar), and other players in Sunnyvale and Southern California, underscoring a longstanding design, manufacture, and test footprint.

Venture-capital activity in California remains robust, with a large, active ecosystem and significant share of U.S. space-tech funding directed to the state, supported by tax incentives for hiring and investment rather than blanket financing.