Blue Sky Metropolis

The end of the Cold War brings massive layoffs, but tech billionaires choose Southern California to launch their space companies, injecting new vigor to the industry in the region. Though committed to the “democratization” of space, SpaceX and Virgin Orbit include the Pentagon as a major customer.

The triumphant and tragic Space Race unfolds in the firsthand accounts of those who pioneered the technology and built the hardware that made possible mankind’s greatest achievement: landing on the moon. Meantime, the military-industrial-complex expands unchecked.

The Cold War and Pentagon dollars fuel the explosive growth of modern Los Angeles and creates the military-industrial-complex. Entire suburbs are built in record time to house defense industry workers, but covenants restrict non-white races from living there. Fear of nuclear annihilation spawns a new genre for Hollywood as ‘ science fiction’ movies become a box office goldmine.

This episode establishes Southern California as the undisputed aviation capital of the world and introduces the industry founders — Jack Northrop, Glenn Martin and Donald Douglas. Nice weather attracted them but so did a climate friendly to dreamers, risk takers and entrepreneurs. Amelia Earhart learned to fly here, becoming only the 16th woman in the world to earn a pilot’s license.

"Blue Sky Metropolis" is the untold story of how aerospace was central to the growth of California and its emergence as an economic power. The documentary miniseries focuses on the people behind the aerospace movement and will feature many of the current major players in the aerospace industry in California, which is the hub of modern day aerospace engineering.