[Wattleigh]

Houston Spaceport / Axiom Space Facilities

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...h-economy.html

'Explosion of opportunity': Axiom, NASA project low-Earth-orbit economy boom in next decade

By Jishnu Nair - Reporter
April 07, 2023, 06:00am CDT

Four planned commercial spaceflights and a campus under construction in the Houston Spaceport are part of Axiom Space’s bet on a successful low-Earth-orbit manufacturing economy within a decade, according to CEO and co-founder Michael Suffredini

"The local economy is affected significantly because not only will there be jobs, but the amount of research and manufacturing that will take place over time will start to focus around the Houston area as well," Suffredini said. "There's a lot of testing and demonstration you have to do before you fly a system or [produce] a product, whatever that product might be."

Suffredini delivered his remarks at an April 6 press conference scheduled ahead of the May 8 launch date for Axiom Mission 2. The four-person mission will spend 10 days at the International Space Station researching the effects of microgravity and radiation on materials.