It may have experienced a downturn in recent decades, but the aerospace industry in Southern California has its sights set on a re-launch.

The Southern California region has been a formidable player in aerospace since the early 20th century. However, recent decades have seen dwindling activity as a growing number of companies moved east after the end of the Cold War to be closer to government contracts around Washington D.C., the Los Angeles Times explained. During World War II, the aircraft manufacturers employed 2 million people, and the region also had a significant role in the bustling 1960s space program.

While aersopace employment has fallen from 273,000 in 1990 to 92,000 today, industry experts believe Southern California is well on its way to a second phase of aerospace success, according to the newspaper.

“There’s probably more rocket engine and launch vehicle expertise in Southern California than anywhere else in the United States or probably the world,” said Jim Cantrell, CEO of Vector Space Systems, in an interview with the LA Times.

The reason for this optimistic outlook is that more and more of the top aerospace companies in the U.S. are calling the region home, such as Virgin Galactic, SpaceX, XCOR Aerospace Inc. and Vulcan Aerospace, the source noted.

A recent report entitled “The Changing Face of Aerospace in Southern California,” published by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation Institute for Applied Economics and the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation, presented figures supporting this industry comeback.

Guided missile and space vehicles manufacturing employment increased by more than 64 percent since 2004, with the majority of the growth in Los Angeles County, the report found. Nearly one quarter of national employment in this sector is now based in Southern California. Additionally, aerospace employment has grown 66.7 percent in San Diego County since 2004.

Annual aerospace wages were an average $105,715, which the report noted is one of the highest in Southern California for any industry. Aerospace also counts for 2.4 percent of the total state gross domestic product.