The year that just ended defied expectations in the aerospace industry.
That is the view of Michelle Iturralde, a market executive for Bank of America and head of its aerospace division in Los Angeles.
The aerospace industry has long been a component of L.A.’s economy and is likely to remain so.
It encompasses the big players like Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc., Northrop Grumman Corp. and Boeing Co., down to the small machine shops that do work for the big companies. It also has startups and newer companies like Skyryse and Rocket Lab USA Inc. in Long Beach and Space Exploration Technologies Corp., better known as SpaceX, in Hawthorne.
Iturralde said she has seen greater efficiencies in the aerospace industry, as well as higher margins that offset wage inflation last year.
Iturralde also noted noticeable improvements in the supply chain, which was a big challenge for the industry at the onset of the global pandemic..
“That dynamic has changed; the supply chain and production is back and there is huge demand for the (original equipment manufacturers) and the aerospace industry in general,” she said. “It is growing.”
The total value of the global aerospace and defense industry is forecast to reach $1 trillion in 2026, Iturralde said, with the overall space economy reaching $1.1 trillion by 2030.
That compares to the global space economy doing $469 billion in business in 2021, she said.
Iturralde attributed the increase to government commitment to research and development.
“The government and military play an important role in R&D, and over the past decade or so have opened up the door to privatization of small to medium-sized companies to bring technology and innovation from the private sector to help solve for their commitment to continue to support homeland security and continue to support the largest military on the planet,” she said.
Growth in the market
But it is the emergence of private companies such as Rocket Lab USA Inc. and SpaceX…
Read the full article here
