50-acre aerospace park eyed

NEW ORLEANS — Gov. John Bel Edwards announced the State of Louisiana has signed an agreement with NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) that could lead to creation of the Louisiana Space Campus, a dedicated 50-acre aerospace business park within NASA’s 829-acre site in New Orleans. The space campus would target commercial office development, with contemporary amenities, for existing Michoud tenants and new prospects from the public and private sector to support Michoud Assembly Facility and other industry in New Orleans East. NASA and Louisiana Economic Development signed a memorandum of understanding, or MOU, to mutually explore development of the space campus to its highest and best use. The main building at MAF encompasses 43 acres of climate-controlled manufacturing space, and hosts both government and commercial tenants, including Boeing, which is assembling the Space Launch System rocket, and Lockheed Martin, which is developing the Orion crew capsule. Business investment at the space campus would not be limited to aerospace functions, but businesses in that sector would be encouraged to explore the possibilities of the new campus. (Source: Louisiana Economic Development, 03/10/21)