Work done in Colorado includes the Operational Land Imager. (Denver Post file)

The Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution is releasing detailed findings Tuesday from a new study on Colorado's aerospace economy a study that applauds the state's strength but cautions about "disruptive changes" on the horizon that could threaten the state's dominance in the sector.

"We do feel it is a moment of urgency," said Mark Muro, senior fellow and policy director at the Metropolitan Policy Program. "A lot of forces at work are going to require new thinking and new business models and new ways of doing things."

While the report affirms Colorado's strength as an aerospace center with its 66,000 direct employees and $16 billion in sales in 2011 it warns against

Work done in Colorado includes cryogenic testing for JamesWebb Space Telescope mirrors at Ball Aerospace. (Denver Post file)

The study suggests that the state protect its base which is predominantly military and civil contracts, such as those from the U.S. government and NASA while broadening its definition of aerospace to include adjacent markets.

The disruptive changes are forecast to come from more nontraditional, private-sector sources. First, the industry will continue to see a changing customer base.

Colorado has been acutely aware of the federal government's budget crisis and its impact on defense spending, but the study suggests a flat-lined federal budget is the new normal.

A recent study by the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. found that the region has the strongest concentration of aerospace anywhere with 4.5 times the national average. But job growth in this high-paying industry has seen a 3.8 percent decline over the past five years, which officials attribute to diminishing government funds.

The second disruptive market trend is changing government preferences that lean toward more commercial business models, such as fixed-price,

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Brookings Institute study finds Colorado aerospace ahead, but changing