Welcome to the Spaceport at the Heart of Commercial Space

Groundbreaking Achievements

For almost ten years, the Houston Spaceport has been a campus where ideas and technology come together to solve critical problems at the cutting edge of human achievement. Today, we’ve hosted some of the most groundbreaking achievements in aviation and aerospace, including:

• Designing, building and testing the world's first successful commercial lunar lander (Intuitive Machines).
• The world's first detonation of room temperatures storable liquid fuels in a Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (Venus Aerospace).
• Construction of the world's first and only commercial space station assembly facility (Axiom Space).
• Designing and testing the world's first commercially available EVA suit (Collins Aerospace).

A Major Economic Driver

As a key contributor to the regional economy, the Houston Spaceport continues to have a positive impact on the community. The Spaceport injected millions of dollars into the economy in the past few years, with millions more on the books over the next 24 months. They will add thousands more area jobs in the next few years, adding to the thousands already created. In the past two years alone, Spaceport businesses have been awarded nearly $4 billion dollars in new contracts, securing the Houston Spaceport’s position as an anchor in the community and an economic driver for years to come.

Community of Talent

Houston’s aviation and aerospace employers have ample access to all the skilled workers they need, when they need them. In fact, the City of Houston boasts one of the most talented, well-educated and diverse workforces in the country.

• More engineers live within 20 miles of Houston Spaceport than any other facility of its kind in the U.S.
• One of the largest labor forces in the world resides in Houston including more than 59,000 engineers representing all industry disciplines.

Education and Workforce Development

Houston Airport System has partnered with San Jacinto College to create the EDGE aerospace workforce development center. Located in the HASC building, the EDGE Center provides technical training in the fields of composite manufacturing, electrical assembly, mechanical structures, quality assurance and mechatronics.

Texas Southern University (TSU) has broken ground on their new two-acre aerospace training facility at the Houston Spaceport. Once complete, TSU plans to move their Aviation Management programs to the facility.

The Spaceport also formalizing a partnership with a consortium of local universities including Rice University, Texas A&M University, Texas Southern University and University of Houston – Clear Lake to provide industry-academic collaboration opportunities for spaceport tenants.

Infrastructure Investment

The Houston Aerospace Support Center (HASC) was purchased in 2016 from the Boeing Corporation. This 53,000 sq.ft. high-bay manufacturing facility includes overhead cranes, cleanrooms and office space. The new air traffic control tower at Ellington Airport, completed 2018, is outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment and has dedicated space for mission control.

On October 17, 2018, the Houston City Council approved $18.8 million in funding for infrastructure development at the Spaceport. This marked the beginning of a large, multi-phase expansion project. officially known as the "Phase 1 Expansion." The expansion provided infrastructure to 153 acres of the Houston Spaceport property closest to the HASC. This included: streets, water/ wastewater, pipelines, electrical power and communications facilities. The infrastructure development project was completed in 2019 and included four new streets named after five of the Orbiters from the Space Shuttle Program: Columbia, Atlantis, Enterprise, Endeavour, and Discovery.

Phase 1 Included:

• Newly constructed roadways
• 10MW electrical service
• 6400' L.F. of underground Telecommunication duct bank
• 5400' L.F. of single mode dark fiber
• New water/wastewater service

In October 2022, the Houston Spaceport completed a Phase 2 land use plan for the development of the remaining 257 acres of the Spaceport. Phase 2 will include retail and hotels components at the

spaceport, as well as expanded infrastructure to accommodate expanded land use by commercial space and education tenants. Additionally, several major infrastructure upgrades are included in Phase 2, including the construction of Taxiway Lima: a full-length taxiway over 8,000 feet long, alongside Runway 4-22. Taxiway Lima will create an additional 120 acres for airside development and operationally connect the Houston Spaceport to Ellington Airport.

Spaceport Tenants

The Houston Spaceport continues to attract companies on the cutting edge of aerospace technology.

Intuitive Machines (IM)

IM has completed their 125,000 sq. ft. Lunar Operations Center, greatly increasing their Spaceport footprint. A Spaceport tenant from the very beginning, Intuitive Machines has grown to become one of the most important and exciting companies in the commercial spaceflight industry. Today, they support a range of lunar initiatives and commercial space endeavors from their headquarters at the Spaceport. With the successful launch of IM-1 to the lunar surface in February 2024, they’ve continued to expand their footprint here as they continue to help America expand their footprint on the moon. Intuitive Machines provides lunar surface access, lunar orbit delivery, and communication from lunar distance in support of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.

Collins Aerospace

Collins Aerospace recently completed a new eight-acre, 120,000 square-foot campus to support its Mission Systems business and host a 10,000 square-foot area for start-ups and universities to collaborate on solving critical space technology challenges, including robotics, medicine and additive manufacturing. Collins is producing NASA’s next generation spacewalk systems for the agency’s future Artemis lunar missions and work outside the International Space Station. These new suits contain life support components including oxygen supply, electrical power, ventilation and hydration.

Axiom Space

Axiom has completed construction on a 22-acre facility which will house all of the firm’s operations. Axiom Space operates missions to the International Space Station (ISS) for commercial customers, including space agencies, companies, and individuals. Axiom Space is also the builder and future owner and operator of Axiom Station, the successor to the ISS. Axiom Space is the only company on earth with the privilege of connecting its modules to the ISS during the new station’s assembly in Earth’s orbit. Axiom’s construction of the world’s first commercial space station is underway. The assembled module will undergo final assembly and integration at the Houston Spaceport in preparation for a late 2025 launch.

Venus Aerospace

Venus Aerospace is located on-site with expansion plans already underway. Their goal is to build an engine that makes one-hour global transport cost-effective - and they’re already light-years ahead of the competition. From their headquarters at the Houston Spaceport, Venus Aerospace is focused on engineering the future of hypersonic flight. They’re currently designing and testing the technology to create the Stargazer, a hypersonic passenger spaceplane that will travel 9 times faster than the speed of sound at an altitude of 120,000 feet.

San Jacinto College's EDGE Center

The San Jacinto College EDGE Center offers aerospace training and a pathway to careers in the aerospace industry. San Jacinto College is the official education training partner for the Houston Spaceport. The EDGE Center offers training programs in a HYBRID format to meet the needs of today’s tech-savvy student. With customized and individualized aerospace training based on the needs of Spaceport partners, The EDGE is both a valuable training tool for Spaceport tenants and a pathway to careers in the aerospace industry.