Gov. Phil Bryant on Monday announced two new state-backed space projects during an event at Hancock County's Infinity Science Center.

One is an economic development project called Space Initiative, intended to attract more space companies to Mississippi. Patrick Scheuermann, the former leader of both Hancock County's Stennis Space Center and Alabama's Marshall Space Flight Center, will organize it, a statement from the governor's office said.

Bryant also announced the formation of the Mississippi National Guard Space Directorate. Bryant spokesman Bobby Morgan said its purpose is to attract U.S. Department of Defense investments to Mississippi that are part of President Donald Trump's new Space Force. The federal Space Force was created by executive order in February as a new branch of the U.S. Air Force.

Morgan said a yet-to-be-named task force will figure out how best to attract those new federal investments. The task force is expected to tap into expertise at NASA, universities and the aerospace industry, an announcement said.

The directorate will be led by Col. Billy Murphy of the Mississippi Air National Guard's 186th Air Operations Group. Bryant signed executive order 1445 to create the new state-backed space force.

“Mississippi has been a leader in the field of space for many years and I believe that we have the capabilities to attract other space companies to invest in the state and the ability through our National Guard to use space technology to aid in defense and disaster response," Bryant said in a statement.

Scheuermann will run the economic development effort by himself, and will be funded by the Mississippi Development Authority.

Morgan said the goal is for Mississippi to attract more businesses like California-based Relativity. The company recently announced it would make a $59 million investment in its rocket component production and testing operations at Stennis, expanding its workforce at the site by about 190 people.

It was not immediately clear how much Bryant's two space projects would cost.

In statements, Sen. Roger Wicker and Rep. Steven Palazzo praised Bryant's space announcements. Wicker called them "strong signals to our nation that the state of Mississippi is serious about space."

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Contact Luke Ramseth at 601-961-7050 or lramseth@gannett.com. Follow @lramseth on Twitter. Please support our work at the Clarion Ledger by subscribing.