CEO Chris Jannette announces move at Arizona Space Summit Sierra Vista, AZ. 03/20/25. BlackStar Orbital President and CEO Chris Jannette and Sierra Vista City Manager Chuck Potucek recently signed a letter of intent (LOI) for the company to occupy a portion of the Sierra Vista Municipal Airport. Jannette announced the latest move in BlackStar’s plans to build in Sierra Vista at the Arizona Space Summit on Thursday.
On Tuesday, March 18, BlackStar Orbital leadership met with Sierra Vista representatives for a small signing ceremony at City Hall. The letter of intent is another important milestone in BlackStar’s plans to build their premier spacecraft research, development, and manufacturing facility at the Sierra Vista Municipal Airport.
BlackStar intends to lease approximately 30,000 square feet of land, apron access, and parking from the City to build out their permanent facility. The company also plans to hire over 50 employees—providing high-paying, high tech jobs in Sierra Vista as the City’s airport becomes a spaceport reentry site.
"This partnership marks a pivotal step in our mission to advance aerospace innovation and maintain our nation's competitive edge in low earth orbit,” Jannette says. “We’re excited to grow our engineering and development programs here, with Sierra Vista as our home base. We would like to thank the Mayor and City Manager for their continued and ongoing support."
City staff joined BlackStar leadership at the Arizona Space Summit in Tempe on Thursday, March 20, where Janette served as a panelist highlighting Arizona’s optimal conditions for year-round research and development. During the segment, Jannette announced this latest development in his company’s plan to make Sierra Vista their base of operations.
“We were thrilled to join BlackStar leadership at the space summit and to work with them and other stakeholders to join the rapid development of Arizona’s space industry,” City Tourism and Economic Development Director Tony Boone says. “BlackStar is an incredible company whose next generation space drone operations will revolutionize the space economy, and we look forward to taking this next giant leap alongside them.”
As work with BlackStar continues, the City’s economic development team is working with Launch on Demand consultants to pursue an FAA Spaceport Reentry Site License. Staff have already met with the FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation in Washington, D.C., to chart a way forward in the licensing process, which will take about 18 to 24 months to complete. Key elements include safety, compatibility with Fort Huachuca missions, and environmental reviews to support the final commercial licensing.
When completed, Sierra Vista will be one of only three to four reentry site locations in the United States, and possibly the first in the West.
Contact:
Elizabeth Wrozek
Public Information Officer
City of Sierra Vista
1011 N. Coronado Dr.
Sierra Vista, AZ 85635
(520) 439-2304 (office)
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