Good morning!
I want to begin by thanking Secretary Ross for the invitation to be here.
It’s an honor to represent Lockheed Martin and America’s Space industry at the 2018 Select USA Investment Summit.
At Lockheed Martin, we are grateful for the strong vision of Secretary Ross and the innovative work of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Through sound policies and far-sighted reforms, Commerce is laying the groundwork to help America compete, create jobs, and expand opportunity for all.
Now is the time for investors and for companies to take action to “Invest Here, Grow Here, and Succeed Here.” As we consider the places to invest in the 21st century, it is especially fitting that Select USA has chosen this year’s summit to highlight America’s Space industry.
Simply put, the United States is leading the world into a New Space Age – an age defined by bold ventures, transformative technologies, and the potential for extraordinary global growth.
With this historic moment in mind I’d like to use my remarks this morning to discuss the bright future ahead for Space and how the United States is offering tremendous investment opportunities on the Final Frontier.
I’ll talk about the advantages flowing from: our position as the world’s largest market in Space, the increasing ease of doing business in the United States, and the promise and potential of our workforce.
For investors, the United States is the premier market for the Space industry.
The breadth and maturity of our companies and markets give foreign investors tremendous choice – and position them well for future opportunities.
Over the next 30 years, leading investment firms forecast that the global Space market will grow to be somewhere between one to three trillion dollars.
Advances in technology have essentially democratized Space – providing opportunities for more people in more places to share in the incredible benefits of the Space industry.
In the past five years alone, we’ve seen more than 900 new commercial Space companies enter the market.
It has been estimated that new entrants into the Space industry in recent years are attracting one to two billion dollars of venture capital investment annually.
At the international level, we are also seeing the culmination of decades of planning and cooperative ventures, ventures which are inspiring the world to reach for the stars.
For instance, the European Space Agency is working with NASA on the Orion exploration spaceship, which will carry people to the moon and beyond.
And just over two weeks ago, United Launch Alliance, Lockheed Martin’s joint venture with Boeing, celebrated the successful liftoff of NASA’s InSight spacecraft, now on a six-month journey to Mars.
InSight will be the first Spacecraft to study the interior structure of the Red Planet, from crust to core.
The engineers at Lockheed Martin who built InSight also integrated two critical science instruments from international partners.
France’s CNES created the incredibly precise seismometer that will take the pulse of Mars.
And Germany’s DLR built the innovative heat probe that will burrow into the Martian surface to measure its temperature.
Commercial partnerships are also opening up as evolving Space-market dynamics point to increasing opportunities.
Customers across the globe are increasingly reliant upon Space technologies for navigation, communication, and weather forecasting to help them perform more efficiently and more effectively in globally competitive markets.
In addition to these favorable market forces, the growth of the Space industry here in the U.S. is underpinned by sound public policies designed to enable businesses to thrive.
In December, Congress passed, and the president signed, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
This legislation cut the U.S. corporate income tax, making U.S. companies more globally competitive and the U.S. economy more dynamic and strong.
In addition, over the past year, U.S. businesses have felt the benefits of significant regulatory reforms, as the Administration has made a concerted and successful effort to eliminate at least two old regulations for every new one.
Such actions have proven to be especially important for small- and medium-sized businesses working in advanced manufacturing and cutting-edge technologies.
For the Space industry specifically, we’ve seen the Administration take targeted steps which will help unlock the promise of the New Space Age.
The National Space Council has been re-constituted, under the guidance of Vice President Mike Pence.
It has already brought new focus and energy to the Space ventures of both government and industry.
President Trump has also signed “Space Policy Directive 2,” which is driving government agencies to make critical reforms to enhance U.S. competitiveness in Space.
This directive is helping to streamline regulations for Space commerce.
Moreover, the Administration is working to ensure that there is sufficient spectrum access to support more technological ventures and increased satellite use.
Secretary Ross is also driving positive and consequential change.
He has elevated his Office of Space Commerce and is transforming it into a “one-stop shop” to facilitate emerging Space technologies.
These actions, combined with the rollout of a new “National Space Strategy” and a vision for crewed missions to the moon and Mars, have put America’s Space industry on a growth trajectory for decades to come.
Another one of the most distinctive aspects of investing in America is the ability to partner with individual states and local governments.
Vigorous competition for investment between cities and states can lead to mutually beneficial opportunities for communities and investors alike.
At Lockheed Martin, our partnerships with state and local governments have played an important role in many of our recent investments.
One example is our Space campus outside Denver, where Lockheed Martin is investing $350 million dollars to build the Gateway Center.
It is our “satellite factory of the future” with state-of-the-art advanced-manufacturing innovations.
The state of Colorado and Jefferson County have supported our growth and further solidified the state’s position as a hub for Space technology by providing a conducive climate for investment, innovation, and job creation.
As the global Space industry grows and competition for investment heats up, you can expect the many state and local economic development organizations that are represented here at the summit to aggressively pursue international ventures to create jobs in their communities – from Florida and Texas to California and Colorado.
Another key advantage for investors in U.S. Space markets is our nation’s world-class talent base – particularly in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math.
U.S. leadership in Space is built on our talent.
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