News
Alabama rocketeer Tim Pickens talks space flight, rocket bikes
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama – Like the city where he lives, Tim Pickens has rockets in his DNA. Over the years, Pickens has earned a reputation for masterminding an unconventional propulsion system that took a private spacecraft to the edge of space and for quirky inventions that include a rocket-propelled bike. Pickens grew up in Huntsville at…
Secretary Canfield kicks off Alabama Paris Air Show effort: ‘Let’s go’
PARIS — Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield addressed a group of aerospace entrepreneurs, community leaders, economic development specialists and university representatives at a breakfast event this morning that kicked off the Alabama Paris Air Show marketing and recruitment effort. On the eve of the world’s largest aerospace business development and trade show, Secretary Canfield said Alabama’s…
Archangel Systems takes off with global aviation companies
AUBURN, Alabama – For Michael Greene, an electrical engineer with experience working on aerospace projects, it all started with failed mechanical gyros on a cross country flight in his private plane. Determined to create something more reliable, Greene started Archangel Systems in Auburn more than two decades ago. Fast forward to 2015, and Archangel now…
Dynetics rocket breakthroughs rely on 3-D printing, new methods
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama – Engineers and scientists in the Huntsville area are using next-generation manufacturing techniques and the latest advances in rocket engine technology to build cost-efficient hardware aimed at lifting U.S. ambitions in space and safeguarding security at home. Dynetics, a Huntsville firm with roots dating back 40 years, and partner Aerojet Rocketdyne are leaders…
Five trends lifting Alabama’s aerospace industry into new era
Alabama’s aerospace industry has already flown to the moon with the Saturn V rocket. Now, it’s ready for a new set of missions that will keep this critical sector of Alabama’s economy soaring in revolutionary ways. With aviation and aerospace officials from around the globe gathering at next week’s Paris Air Show, it’s time to…
In Kaiser hangar complex, Birmingham sees aerospace potential
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Economic developers think a sprawling hangar complex just off the main runway at the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport can help Alabama’s largest city make a return flight to an aviation sector that’s taking off in the region. The 1.8 million-square-foot complex, last operated by Kaiser Aircraft Industries, stands on 180 acres just off…
Top economic developer to lead Alabama Paris Air Show mission
MONTGOMERY, Alabama – Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield is leading an Alabama delegation to next week’s 2015 Paris Air Show as part of a strategic, team-focused effort to build on the state’s increasingly prominent position in the global aerospace and aviation sector. The Alabama team arrives at the industry’s most important business-development and trade show just…
Alabama wins Silver Shovel Award for 2014 economic development
MONTGOMERY, Alabama – For the second year in a row, Alabama claimed a Silver Shovel Award from Area Development magazine for its strong record in economic development. The publication, targeted at economic development professions and site selection experts, noted that Alabama beat out more than two dozen other states in 2014 to land Remington Outdoor…
Airbus ships first major aircraft components to Alabama factory
MOBILE, Alabama — Airbus announced today that A320 Family aircraft production in the U.S. is on schedule to begin this summer as large components for the first Alabama-produced aircraft departed today from the port in Hamburg, Germany, bound for Mobile. The major component assemblies consist of the wings produced in the U.K., the rear fuselage…
2016 Honda Pilot joins ranks of new Alabama-made autos
LINCOLN, Alabama – Amid the cheers of celebrating workers, Honda launched mass production of its redesigned 2016 Pilot sport utility at the company’s Alabama plant – the latest in a flurry of new or re-engineered models emerging from the state’s automakers. “It’s an exciting day for all of team members in Alabama,” Jeff Tomko, president…