NewswireToday - /newswire/ - Santa Maria, CA, United States, 09/10/2007 - The Spotbeam Awards for 2007 were very competitive. A new category was added in "Manufacturing." The awards are given at the Transforming Space 2007 Conference to honor excellence in space enterprise.

The California Space Authority (CSA) announced the 2007 SpotBeam Award Winners today. The awards will be formally presented at the SpotBeam Awards Dinner on November 8th during the Transforming Space 2007 Conference at the Sheraton Gateway LAX.

“The SpotBeam Awards draw attention to those individuals, organizations, and programs that excelled in space enterprise and exploration efforts in 2007,” said CSA Executive Director Andrea Seastrand. “We had a significant increase in nominations this year and the competition was fierce. It was a challenge to decide, but the winners constitute the very best in their fields. It is an impressive list.”

SpotBeam Award categories and winners include: Federal Leadership - Rep. Adam Schiff; State Leadership - Secretary Victoria Bradshaw of Labor & Workforce Development Agency (LWDA); California Astronaut Hall of Fame (Current Astronaut) - Barbara Morgan; California Astronaut Hall of Fame (Former Astronaut) - Gen. Kevin Chilton; Entertainment - Star Wars; National Security Space - Space Based Infrared System Program (SBIRS); Civil Space - Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy Program (SOFIA); Commercial Space - Space Systems/Loral; Innovation - XCOR Aerospace, Inc.; International Partnering - German Aerospace Center; Education – Raytheon; Workforce - Aerospace/Defense certificate program North Valley Workforce Board and the University of California at Santa Cruz; Manufacturing – ComDev; Space Science Research - Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) program; and Business Development and Retention – Mojave Air and Space Port.

“CSA is working closely with manufacturers, suppliers, education, and workforce entities in the California Innovation Corridor” added Seastrand. “The focus is to transform the space enterprise industry to increase their global competitiveness in this new century. For this reason, we added a new category, ‘Manufacturing,’ to honor achievements made in that area of space enterprise.”

For an in-depth synopsis of each award winner and the category, please, visit on the California Space Authority website.

Agency / Source: California Space Authority

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