WASHINGTON — The non-profit Aerospace Corp., a federal research lab focused on space, shifted its corporate headquarters from El Segundo, California, to the Washington D.C. area, as announced last week.
In an interview with SpaceNews March 25, Aerospace’s president and chief executive Steve Isakowitz said the move was influenced by the changing space landscape in the U.S. government and the necessity of being nearer to important decision makers.
“Recent developments have led to significant changes that make a compelling case for relocating to Washington D.C.,” Isakowitz said.
The first change is the concentration of Aerospace’s main customers and stakeholders in the nation’s capital. “The most significant of these has been the establishment of the Space Force,” said Isakowitz. Having a military branch dedicated to space operations located in the Pentagon represents a focused customer base that Aerospace aims to serve more effectively.
As a federally funded research and development center, Aerospace provides technical advice to both military and civil space agencies.
‘Organizational structures have shifted’
Isakowitz mentioned organizations like the Space Development Agency and the Space Warfighting Analysis Center as other D.C.-based customers that Aerospace wants to be closer to. “We’ve got the space senior acquisition executive Frank Calvelli there,” he added. “The organizational structures have changed. And we’ve got these major programs like NASA’s Artemis.”
In the policy arena, he added, “space has become much higher on Congress’ and the White House's agenda as they’re recognizing the significance of these activities.”
Aerospace has offices in the D.C. metro area in Arlington and in Chantilly, Virginia. The company will continue to operate in Arlington, and its corporate headquarters is now in Chantilly.
Isakowitz said the company will sustain its workforce of 2,800 people in El Segundo and plans to invest $100 million at its campus there in engineering and research activities. He stated that there are no intentions for a substantial relocation of current employees.
The Aerospace Corp. was formed in June 1960 to support the U.S. Air Force in the scientific and technical planning and management of missile-space programs, with a focus on avoiding conflicts of interest. It had been based in El Segundo since its establishment.
