[Wattleigh]

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...ton-event.html

Houston space industry set to skyrocket with Texas A&M institute, Spaceport wins, leaders say

By Jishnu Nair - Reporter
November 09, 2023, 02:28pm CST

Industries across Houston are making strides for the future, and the Bayou City’s aerospace sector is not getting left behind, local leaders said.

During the Greater Houston Partnership’s Future of Space 2023 event this week, Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston; Mario Diaz, director of the Houston Airport System; and Nancy Currie-Gregg, a former astronaut and current professor of practice at Texas A&M University, joined GHP President and CEO Bob Harvey for a panel discussion on the recent moves Houston has made in 2023.

Harvey, who is less than a month away from his retirement as the GHP’s top executive, led the discussion off by highlighting significant funding from the Texas Legislature. During the 88th legislative session, House Bill 3447 created the Texas Space Commission, intended to keep the Lone Star State competitive with other emerging space markets around the country.

From that bill, $350 million — over 56% of its total funding, according to Harvey — went to the Houston area, where Texas A&M University will use the funds to create a new $200 million Texas Space Institute facility near the JSC.

Currie-Gregg, who flew on four Space Shuttle missions for NASA, said the institute was a symbol of collaboration within the aerospace industry that she did not experience as an astronaut.

“Not only do we need the engineering talent [from] around the world, but we need collaborations to really be able to fund the varying goals that we all have in space,” Currie-Gregg said.

Currie-Gregg and Wyche also emphasized the role Houston needs to play in developing its own workforce. Texas A&M’s facility is expected to include labs, shops, classrooms, meeting rooms, control rooms, dedicated spaces for astromaterial curation and sample research, and two large extraterrestrial testbeds when completed.

NASA has also made inroads with other Houston organizations fostering talent and technology. Last year, the agency initiated a tech transfer program with the Ion, allowing local startups to partner with NASA.