SpaceX president tours Wichita manufacturers
WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) - In the hangar where "Doc" the B-29 sits as a showcase of Wichita's aviation past, dozens of people gathered to hear about the City's potential future.
Tuesday, Senator Jerry Moran introduced the president of the space exploration company SpaceX, Gwynne Shotwell, to several local businesses and government leaders at a reception inside the hanger. As well as leading her on a tour of three different local aerospace manufacturers in Sedgwick county.
Shotwell says "The reason why I'm here is to meet the leadership from these companies and get an understanding of how they like to do business, what they love to do."
As SpaceX expands the Starlink satellites and its spacecraft programs, Shotwell says there is much room for growth with who they work for. "With the ramping of the starship and super heavy we're looking for all sorts of new companies to bring it to the family."
Tuesday's visit is the third time in the last 15 months Moran has brought leaders in either private space exploration or with NASA to Sedgwick county to look at available manufacturing options. He believes it's an easy way to boost the region's visibility. "Too often people who don't live in Kansas don't know Kansas."
That visibility is something he and the president of the Greater Wichita Partnership, Jeff Fluhr, say is a targeted effort to diversify manufacturing within the Wichita economy and push the city to grow with the potential future of travel,
"It increases our probability of success as a region, as a state, as a local community," said Fluhr.
Moran adds "With increased federal investment, and with an ever-growing private sector, economy or surrounding space, it's a perfect asset to add to what people in Kansas do for a living."