Kentucky: The Final Frontier

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Ask folks what Kentucky is known for and nearly everyone will start with horses and bourbon, not necessarily in that order. Anyone who has attended the Kentucky Derby or the spring and fall meets at Keeneland can attest to the majesty and tradition that is Thoroughbred horse racing, and no justification is needed for imbibing the Commonwealth’s signature amber elixir. It goes without saying that a combination of the two enterprises is nothing short of perfection. 

But few would give the answer that is quickly becoming the correct one: the aerospace industry. States like California or Texas seem much more likely to fit that bill. But Kentucky has quietly moved to the front of the pack.

“The aerospace exports in Kentucky are rising,” said D. Stewart Ditto II, retired Marine and executive director of the Kentucky Aerospace Industry Consortium (KAIC). “In 2015, they were $8.7 billion and in 2016, $10.87 billion. Kentucky has passed California and is only behind Washington in exports.” 

KAIC came about after the Kentucky state legislature passed House Joint Resolution 100 in 2015, tasking the Cabinet for Economic Development, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and the Kentucky Commission on Military Affairs with studying all aspects of the aerospace industry within the Commonwealth. Ditto, who serves as project manager for the study due to be completed this fall, shared the surprise even he felt at discovering such a large business presence. 

“Many don’t realize the impact Kentucky has nationally and internationally,” he said. “Our study has found over 630 companies involved in aerospace. We have major companies in the state, with a significant portion supplying parts for the industry. Several are in northern Kentucky and also do auto parts. There is a lot of back and forth.”

While all this commerce is wonderful, it does beg the question, “Why Kentucky?” Ditto had an answer for that. “The aerospace industry is doing what the auto industry did years ago,” he said. “Coming south, there are lower taxes, lower energy costs.” 

Kentucky’s fortunate geography also plays a role. “Kentucky is the center of the industry’s growth,” Ditto said. “It’s in the middle of the South and the Midwest.” Whether considering the distance from major metropolitan areas, research facilities, aviation and space centers or the ease of shipping products via planes, trains and trucks, Ditto adds, “The logistics are phenomenal.”

Beyond the need for the study, state officials also recognized a need to bring everything together in such a way as to not only service the industry but also promote it. “Lt. Gov. Jenean Hampton saw a need for the consortium,” Ditto said. Hampton, an Air Force captain deployed to Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm, holds not only an MBA but also a degree in industrial engineering and serves on the KAIC Board of Directors. 

“Our goal is to create an aerospace brand,” said Ditto, referring to the first of the consortium’s six goals. The other five are:

  • Advocating for the aerospace industry to raise its overall profile.    
  • Serving as a connection point for private and public entities.
  • Promoting workforce development, training and outreach at all college and pre-college levels. 
  • Reinforcing research and development related to aerospace occurring at universities and in the private sector.
  • Facilitating connections to existing and future organizations in related industries toward the mutual benefit of the economic growth of the Commonwealth.

The “parts for stuff” aspect of Kentucky’s aerospace involvement is fabulous, but one crosses solidly into “way cool” territory when discovering the real-life connection to space travel and exploration, and the amazing education, research and development going on in our own backyard. 

A nondescript building on Short Street in Lexington is the home of Space Tango, a private company involved in microgravity research and manufacturing. It has its own facilities on the International Space Station, communicating with the astronauts and conducting research. “Few private companies have a lab on the International Space Station,” Ditto said, “and they will hopefully have a second lab soon.” 

Farther east is Morehead State University and the Ronald G. Eaglin Space Science Center. “Morehead is involved in CubeSat [small satellite] research,” Ditto said. “They have five satellites and are the first non-NASA technology asset to have that honor.”

Dr. Benjamin Malphrus, director of Morehead’s Space Center and another member of the KAIC Board, is giddy when discussing Kentucky’s aerospace industry, his students, colleagues and the incredible work going on at MSU. “Aerospace is the No. 1 export,” he said, “and that took everyone by surprise. It wasn’t even on the radar and really happened by accident. There was no major aerospace company, no anchor, but lots of smaller companies. And some bigger ones who also make parts. GE turbine blades manufactured for Airbus are made in Kentucky, [as well as] some landing gear mechanisms and most home satellite dishes.” 

Agreeing with Ditto, Malphrus reiterated Kentucky’s unique position: “We have an improved business environment, a sound supply chain and a well-trained workforce,” he said, adding with a bit of pride, “And we have 100 percent job placement with our undergrads.”

At Morehead, the focus is on nanosatellite technology, which means equipment not much bigger than a loaf of bread. “Our nanosatellite development is mostly for NASA,” Malphrus said, “but there are many other practical purposes, such as counting cars in a Wal-Mart parking lot at various times of day to track traffic patterns.” 

These small devices use their Earth remote sensing capabilities to assist in disaster relief and defense situations. “The benefit of the small satellite,” said Malphrus, “is that it’s inexpensive—a million dollars or so compared to multimillions for the large satellites—and can be anywhere in 15 minutes, while the larger ones can take hours to reposition. They have a smaller resolution that is very specific and can monitor flood zones and help with natural disasters. There are defense applications, and shipping companies often track their ships using a constellation of satellites.”

The most exciting work at MSU centers on space exploration and data collection. Perched on a hill outside the Space Center is the 21-M Space Tracking Antenna. This 21-meter behemoth tracks small satellites as they whiz by at thousands of miles per hour and serves as support for each mission. 

“The students monitor the tracking,” Malphrus said, which usually involves three or four flyovers a day. Actually, the students do pretty much everything there, as Malphrus and his colleagues believe that hands-on experience and hard work are the best teachers. During a recent tour of the Center, every door opened revealed labs, test chambers, clean rooms, workshops and computer command centers that were staffed by undergrads working under the supervision of scholars with both knowledge and practical experience. “I don’t hire professors just because they have a Ph.D.,” Malphrus said. “They have to have had a real job—some experience doing this kind of work.”

The nanosatellite endeavors he’s referring to, however, are too fascinating to be called work. “We have flown six missions,” he said. “Two of our satellites are in orbit right now. The DM-7 is attached to the International Space Station and shows that we can build an inexpensive supercomputer, and the CXBN-2 is on a science mission studying the physics of the early universe.” 

On track for next year is MSU’s newest and most exciting mission: NASA’s Lunar IceCube. The six-unit CubeSat will be looking for water in liquid, solid and vapor form on the moon, and its data collection will bolster the research that could potentially send people to Mars, asteroids or even back to the moon. 

“We won the bid and have the lead on it,” Malphrus said. “It will be a 2019 launch with the most powerful rocket ever designed.” 

Using the interplanetary superhighway research developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the satellite will have to speed past both the Earth and the moon before arriving at its destination. “It has to pass the moon and do an Earth flyby before its chaotic capture,” he said.

From Lexington’s Aviation Museum to the Space Science Center at Morehead to Eastern Kentucky University’s Aviation Program to the tireless work being done by the KAIC and the 600-plus companies in the state, Kentucky has emerged as a definite aerospace presence. And the future? Alluding to the wonders of what will be, Malphrus grinned and remarked half-jokingly, half in head-shaking wonder, “We got here on accident. Can you imagine if we’d had a strategic plan?”