AURORA | Colorado’s space industry has plenty to be happy about.

With more than 66,000 employees — including more than 8,000 employed at just four Aurora firms — and a more than $8 billion economic impact, the space business has become a major player in the state’s economy.

That being said, the industry does have some places it could improve, according to a Feb. 5 report from the Brookings Institution.

An United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Wednesday evening, Jan. 30, 2013 in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The rocket is carrying the latest Tracking and Data Relay Satellite for NASA. This is the 11th TDRS (T-driss) satellite to be launched by NASA. The space agency uses the orbiting network to communicate with the astronauts living on the International Space Station. The satellites also relay all the images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. (AP Photo/Florida Today, Craig Bailey)
An United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Wednesday evening, Jan. 30, 2013 in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The rocket is carrying the latest Tracking and Data Relay Satellite for NASA. This is the 11th TDRS (T-driss) satellite to be launched by NASA. The space agency uses the orbiting network to communicate with the astronauts living on the International Space Station. The satellites also relay all the images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. (AP Photo/Florida Today, Craig Bailey)

At the top of that list is finding a way to rely less on government contracts and more on private investment, the report said. And the industry — much like the rest of the scientific and technological scene — has to get more young people interested in math and science, or the pool of potential employees will dry up.

“The state’s space cluster faces the next five years concerned about threats ranging from its continued dependence on increasingly uncertain government budgets to the rise of new competitors, new business models, and new questions about its competitive underpinnings,” said the report, titled “Launch! Taking Colorado’s Space Economy to the Next Level.”

Aurora has long been a major player on the state’s space scene, with Buckley Air Force Base attracting several contractors to the city in recent decades.

One of those, Raytheon, is the city’s second largest private employer and has more than 2,200 employees. Three other aerospace companies — Northrop Grumman with 830 employees, Lockheed Martin with 780, and Boeing with 240 — are also among the city’s 25 largest employers, according to the Aurora Economic Development Council.

But, the report warned, the state may be too reliant on those government-funded contracts from bases like Buckley and other facilities in and around Colorado Springs.

“Ironically, what makes the state strong also makes it vulnerable. The predominance of military and intelligence activities in the space sector and the state’s heavy reliance on federal government contracting make the state susceptible to federal budget drawdowns and fiscal uncertainties,” the report said.

Dick Hinson, senior vice president at AEDC, said the report’s findings, when it comes to a reliance on government contracts, make the specter of possible defense cuts as part of the so-called “sequester” next month that much more concerning, especially for Aurora firms.

“Nobody is safe from reductions,” said Hinson, who was one of several local experts Brookings interviewed for its report.

But beyond spending cuts, the sequester has been particularly frustrating because local companies aren’t exactly sure what the sequester-driven cuts will look like.

“The problem with sequester now is that nobody knows what’s going to happen,” he said. “It’s just the uncertainty which is killing us about sequester now.”

But, Hinson said, Colorado in general and Aurora in particular will remain attractive locations for the space industry. The area’s geographic location near the center of the continent is ideal for satellite communication because it allows for messages to satellites in space to be delivered via just one bounce, he said. The more bounces a signal has, the lower the quality, so the region will continue to be attractive, he said.

If Colorado is going to continue to get the most out of its geographic potential, the Brookings report said the state has to ensure that a new generation of scientists and engineers are drawn to the industry.

The report said Colorado must have efforts in place to draw students to science, technology, engineering and math — the so-called “STEM” courses.

The report said the state should “create a dedicated STEM education initiative or entity in order to ensure that the many great STEM education resources and programs already in place become more than the sum of their parts.”

Hinson said attracting new personnel is a concern the industry has long held, both in terms of needing to diversify the industry, and find younger scientists.

“The strength of the industry is based on people, but it is based on a lot of middle-aged white guys. We have got to have that pipeline of talent into the industry,” he said. “And right now there are not enough young people coming into the industry to replace those people.”