About UsChairman’s Message
“I don’t know yet what method we will use to get to the moon, but I do know that we have to go through Mississippi to get there!”
– Dr. Wernher von Braun, Rocket Scientist
A Message from Chairman Mark Glorioso
Partners for Stennis was organized in 1995 to advance business in the Mississippi – Louisiana region through Stennis Space Center. In 2018, we expanded our role to include advocacy for Michoud Assembly Facility, a NASA asset only 50 miles to the West in New Orleans. We are citizens, small business owners, students, teachers, business leaders, state, county and municipal representatives who share a vision for space, ocean and earth exploration.
Named in honor of U. S. Senator John C. Stennis of Mississippi, Stennis Space Center was first established in the 1960s to flight-certify all first and second stages of the Saturn V rocket for the Apollo manned lunar landing program. Today it is testing RS-25 engines that will power the core stage of NASA’s new Space Launch System. The center is also working with commercial companies to meet their rocket propulsion testing needs. Today it is America’s largest rocket engine test center, with structures valued at more than $2 billion.
Stennis’ Applied Science and Technology Project Office use NASA generated science research, remote sensing and other technical capabilities to support research efforts by partner agencies. Through the Office of Chief Technologist, engineers and researchers at Stennis work to transfer NASA-developed technologies to the commercial sector to improve the economic strength of the US and the quality of life for all citizens.
We are also home to NASA Shared Services Center, the centralized administrative processing services and customer contact center operations for all NASA centers across the country. We host a number of federal, state, academic and private organizations and several technology-based companies that share the cost of owning and operating the facility. This model of efficiency simply makes it more cost effective for government and all of our corporate partners like Lockheed Martin, Mississippi Space and Technology Center, the Rolls-Royce North America Outdoor Jet Engine Testing Facility and the Aerojet Rocketdyne rocket engine assembly facility.
The Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command have the largest concentration of oceanographers in the world headquartered right here at Stennis Space Center. Along with the Naval Research Laboratory, Stennis is also the riverine warfare training ground for the Department of Defense’s Special Boat Team Twenty-Two, the headquarters of the Naval Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School and Naval Oceanography Mine Warfare Center.
Our highly trained and professional workforce totals more than 5,000 at Stennis. These employees are our neighbors and our friends, contributing greatly to the economic impact on our region. Currently, the direct economic impact on the 50-mile radius surrounding Stennis is $678 million. And, the impact does not stop there. It also impacts our global economy and our local and state tax base. The communities surrounding Stennis Space Center also benefit from a social and civic standpoint, bringing new skills and experiences to the region building the strength of our communities in Harrison, Hancock and Pearl River Counties in Mississippi and St. Tammany Parish in Louisiana.
Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana is managed by Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama. This facility is essential to NASA’s human space exploration mission. It is home to one of the world’s largest indoor manufacturing facilities, has 900,000 square feet of office space, a deep water port used for transportation, and its own dedicated rail head. Michoud’s importance to Louisiana and the Nation goes beyond NASA. Michoud provides a significant source of employment and income in the two-state region. Its multi-tenant facility houses government agencies and private companies that support 3,500 employees on site every day.
Through Partners for Stennis & Michoud, we are insuring that government decision makers, business interests and interested citizens know of the value and importance of these NASA assets to our Region. As chairman, I invite you to join the discovery.
Chairman Mark Glorioso
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