While often referred to in a joking manner, rocket science seriously needs more engineers, and an expansion at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs will funnel more educated workers into the growing field of astronautical engineering.

A $3.5 million donation from the Anschutz Foundation, the charitable arm of the Denver-based Anschutz Corp., whose holdings include The Gazette, will jumpstart construction of a 24,000-square-foot annex to the campus’ College of Engineering and Applied Science, officials said Wednesday.

The announcement comes as local and state officials make their final plea to the federal government to name Colorado Springs as the permanent headquarters of U.S. Space Command. Colorado Springs is one of six cities in the nation under consideration as being ground zero for the developing military branch and houses its temporary location at Peterson Air Force Base.

Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers said the city is already the nation’s epicenter of military space operations and new degree programs would directly benefit U.S. Space Command.

“Our ability to continue to produce highly-educated graduates to fill the increasing need in aeronautics and astronautics is yet another indicator that there is no place more prepared to serve as the permanent home of U.S. Space Command,” Suthers said in a statement.

Chancellor Venkat Reddy points out that UCCS was founded in 1965 to, at the time, provide mechanical and computer engineering and business degrees to supply workers for the local operations of Hewlett-Packard, a multinational information technology company started by two engineering graduates from Stanford University.

“Thanks to the phenomenal support of the Anschutz Foundation, we can redouble our efforts to develop the bright minds of future engineering students, who will bring their skills and abilities to benefit the nation and make a difference on the ground and in space,” Reddy said in a statement.

Construction on the three-story extension to the engineering building will begin in March 2022 and include learning laboratories, classrooms, faculty offices, research space and common areas for students.

The new academic section is scheduled to open in the fall of 2023 and will carry the Anschutz name as benefactor.

The expansion will allow the college to increase academic programs in astronautical engineering, a subfield of aerospace engineering. Along with rocket propulsion, the field includes orbital mechanics, space structures, telecommunication and other elements of spaceflight.

UCCS graduates already make up a substantial portion of the local engineering workforce in computer science, electrical and computer engineering and mechanical engineering, said Don Rabern, dean of the college.

“This gift will allow us to meet the demand for graduates in astronautical engineering,” he said.

Even if Colorado Springs doesn’t win the bid for U.S. Space Command, there will be an ongoing need for such talent, said UCCS spokesman Jared Verner.

“It’s not like Colorado Springs hasn’t been a space center for a long time, with the Space Symposium and Space Foundation,” he said.

The engineering building is overcapacity with 1,500 to 1,600 students enrolled, Verner said.

While engineering was the campus’ first academic program to be established, today it ranks third in enrollment, he said, behind the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and the College of Business.

The new addition will enable the engineering program to expand to 2,500 students by 2026, more than triple the size in 2008, Verner said.

University of Colorado system President Mark Kennedy said the state’s largest public university has had “a rich and a enduring history in space research and exploration,” as well as longstanding financial support from the Anschutz Foundation for several projects.

“This gift will help grow our leadership in these areas for the benefit of the state and the nation,” he said in a statement.

The Anschutz donation will be added to the $8 million already committed to the project by the University of Colorado Foundation. The $11 million in hand will cover nearly 70 percent of the costs, Reddy said.