Aerospace in Southern California is formidable and persistent. It started out as a robust local aviation industry in the 1920s, that exploded with growth during World War Two, when the region became the largest producer of military aircraft in the nation. After the war, many of these massive aircraft factories remained, and became centers of production for jets, missiles, rockets, radar, avionics, and satellites—the staples of aerospace.
The constellation of large-scale and small-scale manufacturing and R&D is spread along the coast from San Diego to Santa Barbara, and inland to San Bernardino, spilling over the mountains into the deserts of the Antelope Valley, and beyond. Some of the sites are no longer active, but their erasure is ongoing, as their effects on surrounding development linger. Other sites continue to operate, fueled by the ongoing demand for defense, communications, and national security. Either way, these sites tell the the story of the earth-changing technologies that sent us on this trajectory into the future.
WEST
El Segundo and adjacent coastal cities west of downtown Los Angeles comprise one of the densest clusters of aerospace history and production in the nation. After World War Two, aircraft plants on the south side of Los Angeles Airport became the epicenter for design and production of intercontinental ballistic missile systems, radar defenses, and satellites, guided by the Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center, the Aerospace Corporation, and others.
LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
BOEING SATELLITE SYSTEMS
AT&T EL SEGUNDO
NORTHROP GRUMMAN BUILDINGS 902 AND 905
LOS ANGELES AIR FORCE BASE
AEROSPACE CORPORATION
RAYTHEON SPACE AND AIRBORNE SYSTEMS
SCIENCE APPLICATIONS INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION
COMPUTER SCIENCE CORPORATION FORMER HEADQUARTERS
2401 EAST EL SEGUNDO BOULEVARD
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SPACE PARK MANHATTAN BEACH
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SPACE PARK REDONDO BEACH
HUGHES AIRCRAFT SITE CULVER CITY
SANTA MONICA AIRPORT
RAND HEADQUARTERS
SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION SITE
NORTHROP AIRCRAFT PLANT SITE HAWTHORNE
SPACEX HEADQUARTERS
HONEYWELL AEROSPACE TORRANCE
ZAMPERINI FIELD
NORTHROP GRUMMAN DOMINGUEZ HILLS
NORTH
Rocket engines, radar, and guidance systems continue to be produced at sites across the San Fernando Valley. Beyond the Valley are a number of R&D centers, a cluster of innovative sensor production in Santa Barbara, and the nation’s primary west coast space launching site at Vandenberg Space Force Base.
GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL GLENDALE
LOCKHEED BURBANK AIRPORT SITE
VAN NUYS AIRPORT
L3HARRIS VAN NUYS
LOCKHEED RYE CANYON SITE
AEROJET ROCKETDYNE DE SOTO AVENUE CANOGA PARK
NORTHROP GRUMMAN MISSION SYSTEMS WOODLAND HILLS
SANTA SUSANA FIELD LABORATORY
TELEDYNE THOUSAND OAKS
HUGHES RESEARCH LAB
POINT MUGU
NORTHROP GRUMMAN ASTRO AEROSPACE CARPINTERIA
RAYTHEON GOLETA
TELEDYNE FLIR GOLETA
VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE
EAST
East of downtown Los Angeles is the Jet Propulsion Lab, the birthplace of American rocketry and space missions, beyond which are several test sites and production centers for rockets, missiles, and related fuels, extending across the Inland Empire, mostly lingering in purgatory, awaiting remediation.
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
MORRIS RESERVOIR TEST SITE
DOWNEY AEROSPACE PLANT SITE
NORTHROP GRUMMAN PICO RIVERA PLANT SITE
NORTHROP GRUMMAN AZUSA
AEROJET CHINO HILLS TEST SITE
NAVAL SURFACE WARFARE CENTER CORONA
WYLE LABS NORCO HILLS TEST SITE
SAGE BLOCKHOUSE SITE
LOCKHEED MENTONE ROCKET SITE
LOCKHEED POTRERO CANYON ROCKET TEST SITE
RAYTHEON FULLERTON
L3HARRIS ANAHEIM
SOUTH
Orange County contains a few major aerospace sites, mostly owned by Boeing now, while the hilly sprawl of northern San Diego harbors the bulk of America’s UAV (drone) design and production. The network of Naval defense systems and electronics emanating from Point Loma, at the mouth of San Diego Bay, extend to Mojave desert, and beyond.
BOEING LONG BEACH
BOEING SEAL BEACH
BOEING HUNTINGTON BEACH
ANDURIL INDUSTRIES HEADQUARTERS
FORD AEROSPACE NEWPORT BEACH SITE
CAPISTRANO TEST SITE
GENERAL ATOMICS RANCHO BERNARDO
NORTHROP GRUMMAN AEROSPACE SYSTEMS RANCHO BERNARDO
NORTHROP GRUMMAN COMPACT RANGE
BAE SYSTEMS RANCHO BERNARDO
NORTHROP GRUMMAN RANCHO CARMEL
GENERAL ATOMICS AERONAUTICAL SYSTEMS SABRE SPRINGS
GENERAL ATOMICS AERONAUTICAL SYSTEMS POWAY
SYCAMORE CANYON TEST SITE
CONVAIR KEARNY MESA SITE
CUBIC CORPORATION KEARNY MESA
LEIDOS SAN DIEGO
ORIGINAL GENERAL ATOMICS HEADQUARTERS
NAVWAR BUILDING SAN DIEGO
RYAN AERONAUTICAL SITE
NAVY ELECTRONICS LAB POINT LOMA
DESERT
The Antelope Valley is where aerospace production meets field testing, principally at Edwards Air Force Base. Plant 42, in Palmdale, is managed by Edwards, and is the most advanced (and possibly the largest) military aviation production complex in the nation. Other desert aerospace operations, test, and development sites can be found beyond the Antelope Valley, across the northern Mojave Desert.
LOCKHEED PALMDALE
BOEING PALMDALE
PLANT 42 SITE 2
NORTHROP GRUMMAN PALMDALE
PLANT 42 SITES 5 AND 6
PLANT 42 SITE 7
NASA PALMDALE
FAA PALMDALE
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE
MOJAVE AIR AND SPACE PORT
GENERAL ATOMICS GRAY BUTTE
GENERAL ATOMICS EL MIRAGE
NORTHROP GRUMMAN TEJON RANCH RADAR TEST RANGE
LOCKHEED HELENDALE RADAR TEST RANGE
MOJAVE TEST AREA
BORON RADAR STATION
GOLDSTONE DEEP SPACE TRACKING STATION
CHINA LAKE NAVAL AIR WEAPONS STATION