The Japanese space industry company ispace has chosen Colorado as the location for its first U.S. headquarters, it announced Monday.

The headquarters, located in the Denver metro area, will house ispace’s sales and marketing, executive management and research and development operations. The company is considering further expansion for manufacturing.

“Colorado’s dynamic aerospace ecosystem and abundance of talent strongly align with our aggressive hiring plan,” said ispace CEO Kyle Acierno. “We were also impressed by Colorado’s inclusive, collaborative environment and its leadership in the space industry.”

Colorado will join ispace’s operations in Luxembourg and Japan, developing robotic spacecraft technologies.

With the addition of the U.S., ispace now has a physical presence in all three of the countries that originally signed the Artemis Accords, an international agreement for cooperative civil space exploration.

“(I)space is a natural fit with Colorado’s robust aerospace sector,” said Betsy Markey, executive director of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade.

Markey said, outside of Washington D.C., Colorado has the largest number of contracts with NASA and the U.S. government.

“Colorado is a proven leader in the aerospace sector and one of the best places to live and to start or run a business,” said Gov. Jared Polis.

“(I)space joins Adams County’s Spaceport and Colorado Springs’ Space Command to further reinforce that the path to space exploration and the good paying jobs that come with it goes through Colorado.”

Ispace said Colorado’s density of aerospace industry, skilled workforce and job growth incentives were key considerations in its headquarters decision, in addition to low market costs and strong government and economic partnerships.

Ispace has begun its hiring process for its Colorado operations, announcing the hiring of U.S. Lander Program Director Kursten O’Neill, previously with SpaceX.