COLORADO SPRINGS — An India-based space surveillance and intelligence company has chosen Colorado Springs for expansion.
The company, Digantara, is the first India-based space technology company to expand to U.S. soil. Digantara develops space surveillance systems to track orbital traffic through telescopes on the ground and satellites in space.
The space company is expected to invest $35 million to establish a facility in El Paso County to manufacture its systems. Digantara will bring 61 jobs to the area with an average salary of $82,645, including positions for software engineers, systems engineers, business developers, human resources, and finance roles. Anirudh Sharma, CEO of Digantara, said the company decided to expand to Colorado Springs because of the area's large defense community and military installations.
"Given the history of Colorado having a legacy of nurturing a lot of aerospace companies, we chose Colorado for our base in the U.S.," said Sharma. "The U.S. is the biggest market for anything defense. We had to serve the U.S. defense community, hence having an office here allows us and helps us to acquire more customers on the defense side."
The expansion was announced during a news conference hosted by the Colorado Springs Chamber and EDC on Monday afternoon, which included remarks from Governor Jared Polis and local elected officials.
Colorado is home to 2,000 aerospace companies, which is a 26% increase over the last five years, according to Colorado's Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT). Data from the Colorado Springs Chamber and EDC shows there have been more than 3,000 job openings for positions in the aerospace and defense industry in Colorado Springs. In 2024, there were 18,331 employees within the industry in the Colorado Springs metropolitan statistical area (MSA).
"Anytime a company invests in your region, in what we call bricks and mortar, they're there to stay. They stay longer. They're putting, they're putting roots down in our community. So that's a great thing for the community because it increases our tax base," said Johnna Reeder Kleymeyer, CEO of the Colorado Springs Chamber and EDC. "None of us want to pay higher taxes, but we want to ensure that we have a strong economy. This is how we get our roads paved and we have good schools, is by adding companies, because they pay taxes and they hire employees."
The Colorado Springs City Council approved $198,225 over four years in performance-based incentives that will apply to the company's purchase of construction materials, equipment, machinery, furniture, and fixtures.
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Union workers at King Soopers stores in Pueblo are set to go on strike on Friday
The announcement came from Local 7 President Kim Kordova on Thursday during a news conference, according to Scripps News Denver.
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