Steuben chosen as site of of Maine’s first sustainable space complex
bluShift Aerospace plans to support up to 200 jobs with new rocket manufacturing facility
STUEBEN, Maine (WMTW) - The company bluShift Aerospace, a Brunswick-based NewSpace startup, has selected Steuben as the site of Maine’s first sustainable Space Complex.
“The Town of Steuben has the right geography, the right people, and the right attitude for this exciting opportunity,” said Steuben Board of Selectmen Chair Larry Pinkham. “We could not be more pleased to partner with bluShift Aerospace and to join the NewSpace race.”
The town was allegedly eager to apply for consideration. Previously, Steuben had turned down the Jackson Laboratory, the Maine biological laboratory now on Mount Desert Island.
“I’m pretty sure that the residents of the Steuben didn’t want to make that kind of mistake again,” Pinkham said.
The company hopes to launch 4-6 rockets to space via a lift-boat (a large flat boat with long retractable legs that can be lowered to the ocean floor) initially with a maximum of 32 rockets annually.
Rocket launches will occur from April through October, and result in a rocket manufacturing facility supporting up to 200 jobs within 5-7 years according to bluShift.
Maine was selected because, “unlike other U.S. locations, it can offer a safe polar orbit trajectory over the Atlantic Ocean that does not endanger human populations or wildlife,” said bluShift Founder and CEO Sascha Deri.
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