Orbital Assembly Corp. is relocating its headquarters from Rocklin, California, to Huntsville, hoping to tap into the technical workforce and access the large-scale testing and validation hardware available in Alabama’s Rocket City.
OAC describes itself as “the only company advancing the development and operation of the first commercially viable, space-based business park with gravity.”
“The company negotiated $3 million worth of incentives from state and local governments to develop the Gravity Ring, which is also an essential structural component of its future Pioneer and Voyager space parks,” OAC said in announcing the move today.
The space parks “will enable humanity to work, play and thrive in the space ecosystem,” the company says. “Commercialization of these space parks will include manufacturing of integrated circuits, photonics, fiber optics, satellite rework, military applications, biomaterials, organ growth and pharmaceuticals.”
Company executives are already working in Huntsville, the firm said, and others will be moving soon to continue work on gravity-enabled structures designed to be constructed in space.
“Huntsville is an ideal location, with its space legacy and infrastructure, for OAC to develop the first space-based business park with gravity,” says Rhonda Stevenson, chief executive officer of Orbital Assembly Corp. “We look forward to bringing more jobs to the area as we expand development of our space stations, which will incorporate habitable facilities for manufacturing, research and tourism — including the world’s first hotel with gravity.”
The Huntsville location also gives the company easier access to partner firms including United Launch Alliance, Sierra Space, Boeing, Aerojet Rocketdyne and others, as well as NASA and its Marshall Space Flight Center.
