A crowd watches a live broadcast of the return of the Artemis II crew members to Earth at the San Diego Air and Space Museum during a watch party for the crew's splash down in the Pacific Ocean, in San Diego, Calif., on April 10, 2026. Apu Gomes/AFP via Getty Images
Arizona’s commercial aerospace sector appears cleared for liftoff as rising investment and plans for a new spaceport fuel what could become a decade-long expansion in private space activity.
In late April, aerospace leaders gathered in Phoenix for the inaugural Arizona Space Congress to outline plans for a developing “orbital economy” and to position Arizona as a future hub in the global space industry.
