Utah is one of America's most important aerospace and defense states, employing 110,000+ workers and anchored by Northrop Grumman's Promontory facility — the largest solid rocket motor plant in the world — and Hill Air Force Base, Utah's single largest employer. With L3Harris, Orbital ATK heritage programs, and a growing space economy around Salt Lake City's Silicon Slopes corridor, Utah's aerospace industry generates $12 billion in annual output and is steadily expanding.
From the solid rocket boosters that power NASA missions to precision defense electronics, Utah's aerospace companies build some of the most critical systems in the American defense and space arsenal.
Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman's Promontory facility is the largest solid rocket motor plant in the world, manufacturing the Space Launch System five-segment solid rocket boosters for NASA's Artemis moon program and propulsion systems for US defense missiles. Northrop is Utah's second-largest aerospace employer and has operated at Promontory since the Minuteman missile program of the 1960s.
L3Harris Technologies
L3Harris operates significant defense electronics, surveillance, and communication systems engineering operations in Utah, employing avionics, systems, and electronic warfare technicians across multiple classified and unclassified programs. L3Harris is one of the world's largest defense electronics companies with $20+ billion in annual revenue.
Hill Air Force Base
Hill AFB is the largest single employer in Utah with over 23,000 employees, managing depot maintenance for the F-35, F-16, and A-10 aircraft and the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense missile system. Hill's Ogden Air Logistics Complex is one of the most important military maintenance and logistics installations in the entire DoD.
