An international aerospace company seeking to collaborate with national defense agencies on surveillance and defense initiatives is considering Colorado Springs for a U.S. base.

The Colorado Economic Development Commission on Thursday approved up to $759,034 in performance-based Job Growth Incentive Tax Credits over an eight-year period to attract the company to the Springs.

The unidentified company, assigned the code name Project Diamond, is described as “a developer of a space surveillance system designed to offer predictive and robust space-based situational awareness services.” The system utilizes “a constellation of cost-efficient nanosatellites in LEO (Low Earth Orbit).”

If the company chooses Colorado Springs, it’s expected to bring 61 new jobs at an average annual wage of $82,645, which is 130% of the average annual wage in El Paso County.

The jobs would include software engineers, systems engineers, business developers and HR and finance roles. The company is also considering North Carolina, Texas and California for its U.S. base.

The tax credits are contingent upon a number of conditions; at least 20 net new jobs would have to be created and maintained before any credits are issued.

The state Economic Development Commission approved job-growth incentives for three other projects on Thursday as well that could bring hundreds of jobs:

• Project Skyhawk is the code name for a company that develops micro-satellite systems and is considering moving its headquarters from Santa Clara, Calif. It’s looking at Colorado — specifically the Denver area — and Utah. If it comes to Denver, it expects to create 141 jobs at an average annual wage of $126,589; those jobs would include accountants, specialists and engineers. The company employs 30 in the state.

The commission approved up to $1,910,438 in Job Growth Incentive Tax Credits to bring the company to Colorado.

In comparing Utah and Colorado, a company representative said the cost of doing business in Utah is less, “but we feel like the talent pool in Colorado is better.”

• Project Bobcat is the code name for a company that is part of Colorado’s advanced manufacturing industry. Thanks to its growing business, state officials said, it needs to expand operations out of its current facility and is looking for a new building either in Boulder County or in Pennsylvania. It expects to create 314 net new jobs — including accountants, engineers, and manufacturing and IT employees — at an average annual wage of $97,493. It would also retain 101 jobs.

“This project would support the state’s economic goals by retaining a well-established and valued advanced manufacturing company, retaining 101 jobs and adding 314 new, good-paying jobs in one of Colorado’s seven advanced industries,” state officials said.

To that goal, the Colorado Economic Development Commission approved up to $5,581,873 in Job Growth Incentive Tax Credits and up to $397,315 in Strategic Fund Job Growth Incentives. The latter incentives require a commitment of local government funding that matches the state incentive; a municipality in Boulder County has offered $397,315 in rebates for development fees, business personal property taxes and other items.

• Project AX Experience reflects a medical device company that is looking to establish a medical education facility in the western half of the United States. In addition to Colorado, the company is considering Dallas and Salt Lake City.

Within Colorado, the company is eyeing Arapahoe County. It expects to create 100 net new jobs at an average annual wage of $133,200; the jobs would include lab technicians, project engineers and office managers. The company has more than 6,000 employees in the U.S., though none currently in Colorado.

“The addition of a medical education facility in Colorado would offer training led by world-class surgeons and optimize the surgical experience for Colorado patients and beyond,” said materials from the Economic Development Commission, which approved up to $1,673,558 in Job Growth Incentive Tax Credits.

“We’re anxious and excited to take our company further west, and based on the locations we’ve looked at, right now statistically Denver makes the most sense for us,” a company spokesman said at Thursday’s meeting.

The commission on Thursday also approved $2 million in refundable tax credits through the CHIPS Refundable Tax Credits Program for Project Lithium, the code name for a global Fortune 200 company “that provides edge-to-cloud solutions, high-performance computing, AI, and enterprise data center solutions.” The company, according to state officials, has operated in Colorado for more than 40 years and is seeking to consolidate its R&D activities from high-cost locations. Fort Collins has been identified as a potential site for that consolidation.

The CHIPS tax credit program was created through legislation in the General Assembly in 2023 to maximize incentives available to eligible semiconductor and advanced manufacturing industries in the state.