NASA/DoD federal complex on the Mississippi Gulf Coast (near Diamondhead / Bay St. Louis, MS — greater New Orleans orbit). NASA's primary ROCKET PROPULSION TEST site: tested the Space Shuttle Main Engines (today SLS / RS-25). Major Navy/DoD tenant base too — Naval Oceanographic Office incl. BROWN-WATER (littoral / riverine) GIS analysis, vector + point; and Naval Special Warfare / SEAL & special-boat training. Operator-attested 2026-06-26.

Mississippi's largest homegrown telecommunications company, headquartered in Ridgeland.

Mississippi's only academic medical center, headquartered in Jackson.

MGM Resorts property in Biloxi opened in 1999; its 32-story tower is the tallest building in Mississippi and the largest hotel in the Southeast by room count.

Huntington Ingalls Industries division headquartered in Pascagoula, the largest manufacturing employer in Mississippi with over 11,000 workers building Navy destroyers and Coast Guard cutters.