Washington, DC – Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet today released the following statement on the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy’s (AURA) decision to locate its new National Solar Observatory (NSO) Headquarters at the University of Colorado campus in Boulder.

“Our people, our fine research institutions, like CU-Boulder, and federal labs, and our growing aerospace and scientific industry make Colorado the perfect place for the new NSO headquarters,” said Bennet. “The new NSO headquarters will bring good-paying jobs to our state and help advance research into solar energy production, which has the potential to create even more jobs in Colorado down the road.”

In May, Bennet organized a letter signed by the entire Colorado Congressional delegation and Governor John Hickenlooper to William S. Smith, president of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, urging him to locate the NSO headquarters in Boulder after it was named as a finalist.