Paso Robles planning commission hears update on proposed spaceport and related tech corridor

Paul Sloan, the city’s economic loan manager, gave the Planning Commission an update Tuesday on the City of Paso Robles’ ongoing effort to pursue a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) commercial spaceport license for Paso Robles Municipal Airport and to develop an adjacent ‘‘tech corridor’’ for related businesses.

Sloan said the city’s work flows from a new five‑year economic development strategic plan and that one action item is to pursue a spaceport license. He told commissioners the FAA has different license types and that Paso Robles would pursue a horizontal‑launch/recovery license that would allow spaceplanes to use existing runways: “It would be a license to expand the use of our existing infrastructure, basically the runways we currently have.”

The commission was told the licensing work has proceeded in parallel with planning for the tech corridor. Sloan said the FAA paused the city’s overlay work and requested an updated airport master plan first. He said updating the master plan will likely take 15–18 months and “costs a little over $500,000,” and that Congressman Pineda secured a grant to help fund that update. Sloan said the master‑plan work began in mid‑2024 and is expected to run most of 2025.

Why it matters: a spaceport license would add Paso Robles to a small group of U.S. commercial spaceports and could position the city to host research‑and‑development testing, university programs and related private firms. Sloan and other presenters emphasized the city’s goal is to attract R&D and academic activity rather than become a primary commercial launch site.

Key details from the presentation: - Licensing steps and timing: Sloan described the FAA process as technical and staged. After submitting materials the FAA can issue conditional approval; any final license would require environmental review. Sloan said outside consultants estimated roughly 2½ years and between $500,000 and $800,000 if the city had paid typical consultant fees from the start. The city reduced costs by partnering with Cal Poly on preliminary work.

- Airport master plan: Because the FAA asked for an updated airport master plan (normally updated every 7–10 years), Sloan said the city must finish that update before resuming the spaceport overlay work. He said the master plan update should allow the city to pick up the spaceport application where it left off.

- Early testing tenant and industry partners: Sloan said Stellar Exploration has used a city test site for nearly two years to test micropropulsion systems and that Dr. Thomas Zvitek of Stellar Exploration visited the airport with full‑size rocket engines. Sloan also described ongoing collaboration with Cal Poly and letters of intent from several firms. He named Dawn Aerospace, an international company that builds propulsion systems and spaceplanes, as a participant in upcoming local events.

- Educational focus and talent pipeline: Sloan said Cal Poly approached the city because the university’s students build CubeSats and face long waits for flight opportunities. The city and university are discussing an ‘‘Educational Access to Space’’ approach to shorten development and testing timelines for students and to create a local talent pipeline.

- Timeline and next steps: Sloan told commissioners he is “optimistic” the city could secure the licensing paperwork by late 2026 if the master plan and environmental review proceed on optimistic schedules, but he repeatedly cautioned that the licensing step is only the beginning and that the environmental review and subsequent decisions by council and others will determine whether the city proceeds further.

Commissioner questions and public comment emphasized the number and types of existing U.S. spaceports, whether other proposed spaceports would reduce Paso Robles’ prospects, and infrastructure constraints such as highway access to the airport. Sloan said roughly a dozen to 15 proposals were visible at recent industry conferences and that a growing national network of spaceports could improve Paso Robles’ position rather than reduce it because the sector needs multiple supporting sites for testing and recovery. No formal action or vote was taken by the commission on the spaceport update.

Sloan concluded by inviting commissioners and the public to upcoming conferences and events involving Cal Poly and industry partners, and by saying staff will return with next steps after the master plan update and further FAA engagement.