Economic Impacts of the Kodiak Launch Complex

Abstract

The Alaska Aerospace Development Corporation hopes to build a commercial satellite launch facility on Kodiak Island during the next several years. The facility would launch small satellites and small to medium rockets into polar, low-earth orbits. It would be one of the few commercial launch facilities in the U.S. and would compete in a rapidly-growing market. MDC hired the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) at the University of Alaska Anchorage to examine the potential economic impacts of such a facility. The economy of the Kodiak Island Borough depends heavily on the commercial fishing industry (including both seafood harvesting and processing) and on government (particularly the U.S. Coast Guard station at Kodiak). The proposed facility; to be known as the Kodiak Launch Complex, would not change the basic picture of the Kodiak economy.