With three new cutting-edge anchor tenant facilities and its second phase of development underway, the Houston Spaceport has undergone a full transformation since the city first vowed to reshape Ellington Airport into an aerospace hub in 2015. 

In 2018, the Houston City Council approved nearly $20 million in funding for infrastructure development at the Spaceport, marking the beginning of a major multi-phase expansion project. Here’s a look 在太空港’s transformative journey and where we are today.

第一阶段 

休斯顿航天港扩建的第一阶段, 2019年竣工, 包括街道建设, utilities and distribution and communications facilities.

The Houston Airport System later appropriated up to $105.6 million to finance construction for three leading aerospace companies, 包括直觉机器. The three-time NASA Contract winner recently made history with its Nova-C lander Odysseus becoming the first U.S. 自阿波罗号之后，再没有航天器登陆月球. 

Intuitive Machines opened its $40 million Lunar Operations Center at the Houston Spaceport last year. 跨越12.5英亩, 新中心包括125人,000 square feet of office and production space that will be dedicated to the company’s lunar program and the manufacturing of lunar landers and spacecraft. 

The center also offers unique technologies and infrastructure including “mission control rooms to track and manage lunar missions, a propulsion test facility to assess lunar lander engine capabilities and a 3,800 square foot ‘flame range’ facility for testing protocols,直觉机器公司说. 

“Houston has always been a city that reaches for the stars, and with Intuitive Machines operating at the Houston Spaceport, our city is poised to shine even brighter in the cosmos,市长西尔威斯特·特纳说. “航空航天 is more than a source of pride for our city; the innovation here is just another example of why the Houston economy is thriving. 直觉机器公司正在催生高薪工作, 培养创新, and attracting talent and investment from every corner of the world.”

直觉机器最近获得了奖项 $2.来自NASA的400万美元 与华盛顿特区合作.C.-based Zeno Power to create a Radioisotope Power System for astronauts travelling to the moon during its lunar night cycle.

In 2022, 商业航天领导者, Axiom空间, broke ground on its 22-acre Space Flight and Assembly headquarters 在太空港. The new headquarters will be dedicated to the development of the Axiom Station, 被称为世界上第一个商业空间站. 

The groundbreaking campus will also support astronaut training and feature mission control facilities, 测试实验室, 和一个高海湾生产设施, 据Axiom空间报道.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held in December 2023 to officially open the first phase of the development. 

公理空间也有 授予NASA几个合同, including a spacesuit task order to advance the Artemis III lunar spacesuit design for International Space Station (ISS) spacewalking capabilities in low Earth orbit.

The new facility focuses on the development and testing of the company’s NASA task order next-generation spacesuit for astronauts to wear while working outside the ISS and on the moon, as well as Collins’ Universal Waste Management System and trash compactor, 据公司介绍. 

另外, 10,000 square feet of the new facility is dedicated to Houston’s first-ever spaceflight incubator, 这使得创业公司, industry professionals and universities to collaborate to advance aerospace technology and exploration. 

The three anchor companies are expected to bring as many as 1,800 jobs to the area in addition to $4 billion worth of contracted work over the next decade, 根据 Houston Spaceport Director Arturo Machuca. 

第一阶段 of the spaceport also included the opening of 圣哈辛托学院’s EDGE Center in 2021, a 154-acre development offering aerospace training and programs that will drive promising pathways to careers in the industry. 

"This is where the next chapter of the rivalry to space will be written by the minds and hands of Houstonians for generations to come,” said Houston Airport System Director Mario Diaz in a press release. “The talent who will learn how to build toward the future of space exploration starts right here at the EDGE Center." 

二期

预计将在未来12至18个月内破土动工, the second phase will span 300 acres and include major additions to its infrastructure including a full-length taxiway along Runway 4-22, 在太空港的西北部, 根据 社区的影响. The new taxiway will allow aircraft to take off and land right next to the spaceport’s anchor companies. 

Other infrastructure projects include the construction of a road that runs through the middle of the spaceport, diverting traffic from Space Center Boulevard through the spaceport and connect to Highway 3 and space for hotel, 餐饮及零售发展.

根据社区影响, 二期 includes the establishment of the 航空航天学院, EDGE中心的扩展, to connect higher education institutions and its students to the aerospace industry.

航空航天学院将包括当地的大学, 包括德州南方大学(TSU), 他最近宣布了 新的两英亩的训练设施 在太空港, and further bolster the region’s future workforce by helping students develop crucial skills needed in the industry.

一旦完成, TSU plans to migrate their 航空 Management programs to this institute to help seamlessly translate their graduates into the 航空航天 Industry workforce.

Discover more about Houston’s aerospace industry and the Houston Spaceport during the Partnership’s 太空的未来 活动于11月11日星期四举行. 7.