DECATUR, Alabama – Aerospace suppliers in North Alabama are reminding Alabama congressional representatives, who fight hard in Washington to protect legacy aerospace centers such as NASA, that commercial space companies are also important to their bottom lines and to the region's high-tech economy.

In an Aug. 1 letter to U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) copied to several others in the Alabama congressional delegation, the vice president of one of these companies urges lawmakers to welcome the new companies. The letter was sent to aerospace media reporters late Monday.

"These companies – though they may not be based in Alabama – draw many millions of dollars each year to the Decatur and Huntsville areas," writes Pete Willis, vice president of Industrial Manufacturing Specialties, Inc. in Decatur. "Because of it, we and other suppliers are able to maintain existing and create new high-skill, high-paying jobs right here."

The letter comes about a month after Brooks joined two other representatives asking NASA to provide information on what the lawmakers called an "epidemic of anomalies" on SpaceX launch missions.

SpaceX is one of the commercial companies vying for a NASA contract to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station, and Congress has repeatedly disagreed with the White House over how much money should go to commercial space and how much to NASA for the new Space Launch System. SpaceX also wants to compete with United Launch Alliance in Decatur to build rockets for government satellite launches.

The letter's signers say some of the "new entrant" companies, which it did not specify, have chosen their small companies as key suppliers. Traditional aerospace leaders use their products, too, the businesses say, but more companies in the field means more customers for them. One of the companies whose leaders signed the letter, Cimmaron Composites, lists SpaceX on its client list.

The letter reproduced below is signed by five company leaders in addition to Willis.