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122 CNC WEST August/September 2016
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industry.”
The Blower Shop has entered into an agree-
ment to purchase a 13,000 square foot building
in southeast Boise near the Boise Airport.
It will house a full machine shop with both
CNC and manual machines, and is expected to
be online by August 2016.
The Blower Shop plans to hire up to 20
full-time benefited employees within the first
few years of operation, and will be working
closely with the College of Western Idaho to
support its training needs. The Blower Shop
will manufacture, warehouse, sell and dis-
tribute its products all from the new loca-
tion in Boise.
Vector Space Acquires Garvey
Spacecraft
A startup developing a small launch vehicle
says it’s on schedule for a first launch in
2018 after completing the acquisition of an-
other small launch company.
Vector Space Systems announced July 20
it had completed the acquisition of Garvey
Spacecraft Corp., a California company that
has been working for more than a decade on
small launch vehicle concepts. That company’s
founder and chief executive, John Garvey,
will join Vector Space Systems as its chief
technology officer.
Vector Space Systems had previously an-
nounced hiring Garvey, but in a July 20 in-
terview, chief executive Jim Cantrell said
this acquisition gives Vector Space Systems
access to the intellectual property, assets
and contracts of Garvey Spacecraft Corp. “It
gives us a more complete acquisition,” he
said.
Garvey Spacecraft Corp. has been working for
several years on the Nanosat Launch Vehicle, a
two-stage vehicle designed to launch payloads
weighing a few dozen kilograms into low Earth
orbit. That design will serve as the basis
for Vector Space System’s Vector 1 vehicle.
Vector Space Systems, which has about 20
employees currently at offices in Tucson, Ari-
zona, and Huntington Beach, California, raised
a $1 million seed round in April. Cantrell
said the company is currently working on a
Series A round of about $10 million this year,
to be followed in 2017 by a Series B round
of approximately $25 million. That funding,
he said, will be sufficient to get the company
through the start of commercial launch op-
erations.
Continued on page 124......
scientific instruments and functionalities,
in addition to optical communications. The
orbiter concept under study would take ad-
vantage of U.S. industry’s technology ca-
pacities by using solar electric propulsion
to provide flexible launch, mission and orbit
capabilities.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasa-
dena, California, is managing the concept
studies under the direction of the agency’s
Mars Exploration Program.
NASA is on an ambitious Journey to Mars
that includes sending humans to the Red
Planet in the 2030s. The agency’s robotic
spacecraft are leading the way, with two
active rovers, three active orbiters, the
planned launch of the InSight lander in 2018,
and development of the Mars 2020 rover.
Rocket Maker Blasts Off to El
Segundo
Sacramento-area rocket engine maker Aero-
jet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc., moved its
headquarters to El Segundo this summer, The
Sacramento Bee reports. Only a handful of
employees will be making the move and the
operating plant will continue to build and
engineer rockets in its Rancho Cordova, CA.
location.
High-Performance Engine Parts
Manufacturer Relocates to Boi-
se, Idaho
The Blower Shop, a high-performance en-
gine parts manufacturer for the automotive
and marine markets, has announced that it
is relocating its operations to Boise, Idaho
from Simi Valley, California. In operation
for more than three decades, The Blower Shop
is recognized as a world leader in roots-
style supercharging technology and manufac-
tures superchargers as well as drive compo-
nents for the professional racing industry
along with street and marine enthusiasts.
Ron Hayes, CEO of the Blower Shop, ex-
plains, “We selected the Boise area for our
relocation because of the huge opportunity
to expand the business within a growing re-
gion. Financially, it made sense to leave
our leased space in Southern California and
purchase a building centrally located in
southeast Boise. We are a growing company
trying to stay on the leading edge in our
marketplace, and also expanding our prod-
uct line within the automotive performance