Commission wins economic development award for recruitment of SpaceX to Hancock County

February 1, 2015

The Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission took home the top award for economic development at the Mississippi Economic Development Council's Community Economic Development Awards ceremony held Feb. 5 in Jackson. The award recognized the Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission's recruitment of SpaceX to the county. "SpaceX is one of the most innovative and exciting companies in the world today and we are honored that they made the decision to invest in their future by locating to Hancock County," said Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission Executive Director Ashley Edwards. Edwards was joined by SpaceX Government Affairs Associate Mike Lapidus in accepting the award. "This award commemorates the strong partnership we've formed with SpaceX," Edwards said. "They are indicative of the type of world-class companies we're recruiting to Hancock County. We are diligently working with SpaceX to grow their footprint in Hancock County and solidify their Stennis Space Center operation as one of their leading locations for the company's future." Upon learning that Hancock County had missed an opportunity to locate SpaceX operations to the region nearly 10 year ago, the Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission identified new opportunities at Stennis Space Center to invite the company to revisit. The commission partnered with MDA to recruit SpaceX to visit Hancock County and inspect the dormant E-2 test stand for future testing of their propulsion systems. As a result of the invitation and followup visits with the Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission and the State of Mississippi, SpaceX partnered with the State and NASA to upgrade the E-2 test stand. The renovations transformed the facility into the nation's most advanced high-pressure methane component test complex. SpaceX is using the test stand to develop their Raptor engine, which is the first member of a family of methane-fueled rocket engines under development by SpaceX. It is specifically intended to power high performance lower and upper stages for SpaceX super-heavy launch vehicles and it will eventually power the next generation of SpaceX launch vehicles designed for the exploration and colonization of Mars.

"With the ongoing private-sector growth of Hancock County and Stennis Space Center, we are well positioned to be leaders in the next generation of aerospace development," said Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission Executive Director Ashley Edwards. "We are proud to be able to say that humans will touch the surface of Mars in the near future, and they'll come through Hancock County to get there."