SEATTLE — Gov. Bob Ferguson signed Executive Order 26-04 on Monday, September 28, creating a Governor’s Space Council, stating that Washington already makes most of the world’s working satellites and cannot treat that lead as permanent.
“This is going to bring together folks on how we can move forward as a leader nationwide or worldwide in space,” Ferguson said. “It’s Boeing employees in Kent who literally created the rovers that wandered over the lunar surface back when we had the Apollo mission. We have a tremendous history here in Washington as a leader. We need to continue that. That’s exactly the work the Governor’s Council on Space is going to do. Looking forward to see what we’re going to do next.”
Executive Order 26-04 was signed at the Museum of Flight as Seattle Space Week began. The 23-member advisory council mixes satellite and rocket companies with labor, universities, mayors and lawmakers. The Washington State Department of Commerce will provide staff support for the council.
The Governor’s Space Council members include Andy Lapsa of Stoke Space, Rob Meyerson of Interlune, Jeff Thornburg of Portal Space Systems, Austin Link of Starfish Space, Colin Doughan of Gravitics, Michael Edmonds of Blue Origin, Lisa Scalpone of Amazon LEO, Cornelia Rosu of SpaceX, Kelly Maloney of Space Northwest, Kent Mayor Dana Ralph, Redmond Mayor Angela Birney, Sen. Claudia Kauffman, D-47th District, Rep. Alex Ybarra, R-13th District, Brendan Wales of FUSE, Jason Chan of IAM 751, Ray Goforth of SPEEA, Bill Pike of PNNL, Dr. Mehran Mesbahi of the University of Washington, Washington State University President Betsy Cantwell, Lynn Strickland of the Aerospace Joint Apprenticeship Committee, Trevor Devaney of Hi-Rel Laboratories, Scott Keeney of nLIGHT, and Philip Johnston of Starcloud…