New York City

Can New York be a future space hub?

A handful of lawmakers are pushing the idea of a New York state space program, but there’s some work to do before planting a New York state flag on the moon.

Apollo 11 moon landing featuring a lunar module built on Long Island.

Apollo 11 moon landing featuring a lunar module built on Long Island. CASTLESKI/Shutterstock

This Tuesday, on the anniversary of the Apollo 12 mission that landed men on the moon for the second time in history, a group of lawmakers and academics gathered at the American Museum of Natural History to promote the notion that 50 years from now, New York could play a major role in the next generation of space exploration. 

During the meeting, convened by Assemblyman Clyde Vanel, who chairs the Assembly Committee on Internet and New Technology, lawmakers questioned academics on points like what they would want a New York state space program to look like, what kind of research and industry activity is already happening in the state, and what the roadblocks are to making New York more prominent in the field.

But Vanel had one question that rang out above the others. “Can we put a New York state flag on the moon?" he asked to an approving, and slightly amused, response. The move would give the motto plastered on the state flag – “excelsior,” or “ever upward” – an entirely new meaning.

While the question might have been hyperbolic, the ideas presented by the dozen or so academics to lawmakers – including Vanel, Assemblyman Steve Stern, New York City Councilman Robert Holden and a handful of staffers from other state legislators’ offices – were not. After all, New York’s involvement in space exploration is not solely aspirational but rooted in history. The lunar module used in the Apollo 11 landing was built on Long Island, which carries the nickname the “cradle of aviation.” “We literally landed men on the moon by what was designed and created on Long Island,” Stern noted. 

That was before the aerospace company Grumman, which was headquartered in Bethpage and built the module, merged with Northrop in 1994, became “Northrop Grumman,” and proceeded to gradually move much of its staff and operations outside the state. A company that once had 25,000 workers in New York became one with just several hundred.

But as the astrophysicists, academics and even some industry professionals in the room on Tuesday attested, there’s a great deal of research on space exploration and related fields happening in New York that could be tapped, better funded and expanded upon as part of a New York state space program.

New York state may never compete with Florida’s Cape Canaveral as a launch site, but there’s still more that could be done. “There's so much more to space than rockets,” said Dr. Cecilia Levy, an assistant professor of physics at University at Albany. “There is space exploration, there is space observation, there is space composition, dark matter, there is space weather, there is SETI – the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. And of course there is all the technology and the engineering that is needed to make this happen."

One of a few such opportunities that was mentioned included building – and perhaps even launching – miniaturized satellites, grouped into categories based on mass including “SmallSats” and “NanoSats,” which can be used for research and testing of new technologies. Proponents pointed to the benefits of these small satellites, including the fact that they’re low cost and something that university students can help build, providing the opportunity for academic institutions to partner with industry.

Most of the scientists in attendance on Tuesday agreed on a few things that could help a state space program, and the overarching goals that most spoke of included expanding research and attracting and retaining talent. While major companies like Grumman may no longer be fueling the space industry in New York, there are a few startups working in the area. Launcher, a rocket startup on Long Island, is developing what it calls the “world’s most efficient rocket” to take small satellites to orbit. 

And even in New York City, there are companies like Honeybee. The company, founded in the city in 1983, is a robotics R&D company that has built tools and systems used by NASA, including in various Mars explorations. But even as the company has expanded over the years, its presence in New York has been dwarfed by its other locations in California and Colorado. 

“We're expanding in Colorado and California. And we're not considering expanding currently in New York because the costs of doing so are just prohibitive,” said Jason Herman, vice president of the advanced robotics group at Honeybee Robotics. Herman, who was at Tuesday’s meeting, said that the high cost of real estate and the competition for talent with other locations make it difficult to build and grow a space company in New York. Others at the meeting suggested that New York ought to provide subsidies for startups working in the field, or state funding for research centers.

Vanel and the other lawmakers took in these suggestions, and while no promises were made, nearly all in the room were swept up in the possibilities of New York taking a more active role in space exploration, observation and research. Asked how he would communicate the space industry as something worth pursuing to his constituents and colleagues, Vanel responded, “How could we not?” “Government used to be in the business of space exploration. The question that you're asking me wouldn't even be a question 40 years ago,” he said, adding that as the federal government and even private industry make leaps and bounds in the field, there’s room for New York to participate. “My constituents understand jobs and understand economic opportunity.”

Holden, Vanel and Stern encouraged academics and industry professionals to continue conversations with them and spoke about holding hearings both in Albany and New York City – something those in the room were glad to hear. “Everyone – from Montauk to Manhattan to Massena to Rochester and Buffalo and Niagara Falls – everybody here in New York is unified in this idea that it's a great idea to do space here,” said Charles Liu, associate professor at the College of Staten Island at the City University of New York. “I mean, we won't call it NASA, we might call it ESSA – Empire State Space Agency."

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.