Houston Spaceport

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by JManc

The proposed Texas A&M Aerospace Research Center and JSC are close to the house, the Space Port is several miles away at the existing Ellington Airfield. The impact of a nearby airport was already baked into the property values long ago.

well thats good to hear because a majorly expanded airport, and err, expanded to outer space levels (!), would not bode well for residential property around it.

[Wattleigh]

Originally Posted by Wattleigh

Potential Texas A&M Aerospace Research Center at the Spaceport? Perhaps so...

c/o Texan on HAIF who writes...

Update c/o the same user on HAIF

Both the state budget that includes the money for this (HB 1) and the enabling bill to create the commission and research fund (HB 3447) have been passed by the legislature. The budget is being examined by the comptroller and HB 3447 has been sent to Governor Abbott's desk. He was an early endorser of this plan so it should be a foregone conclusion that he'll sign them both/allow them to become law. We can hopefully look forward to planning and construction to commence on this massive facility in the next two years!

Originally Posted by JManc

The impact of a nearby airport was already baked into the property values long ago.

Given that the airport has been around for 100+ years, and the non-military part has been owned by the city for about 40, I'd hope so by this point.

[Wattleigh]

https://houston.innovationmap.com/ve...661319857.html

Houston startup with hypersonic engine tech adds new investor

Natalie Harms
Jun 14, 2023, 12:35 pm

A Houston-based company that's developing an engine that'll enable one-hour global transportation has announced its latest investor.

Venus Aerospace released the news that Silicon Valley venture capital firm, Airbus Ventures, has joined its team of investors. The supersonic combustion engine technology — more akin to a rocket's engine than an airplane's — is revolutionary because allows for travel at a higher elevation. Jet engines rely on air outside of the aircraft to combust, and rocket engines work with a system that supplies air internally.

“Venus has developed the world’s first liquid-propellant rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE) with a double-digit percentage increase in efficiency over standard regular engines, making the hypersonic economy possible,” says Sassie Duggleby, CEO and co-founder of Venus, in a news release. “We’re delighted to bring Airbus Ventures into the Venus family and look forward to growing our collaboration as we harness the future of hypersonic flight.”

[Wattleigh]

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...contracts.html

Houston Spaceport companies land NASA contracts for upcoming Artemis mission

Ahead of NASA’s return to the moon, two space companies with a Houston presence landed contracts from the space agency.

Houston-based Axiom Space secured an initial $5 million commitment that could grow to $142 million over four years to modify its Artemis III lunar spacesuit design for spacewalking from the International Space Station.

Meanwhile, Charlotte, North Carolina-based Collins Aerospace, a division of Virginia-based Raytheon Technologies Corp. (NYSE: RTX), landed a $5 million contract to modify its own spacesuit design for operating on the moon.

Both contracts are coming out of NASA’s Extravehicular Activity Services, or xEVAS, contract, which has a combined $3.5 billion on offer for spacewalking needs through 2034, according to the agency’s website.

For Axiom, the task order follows its $228.5 million contract to produce the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit, or AxEMU, suit for the Artemis III mission. Axiom revealed the design, which can be used on the lunar surface, in March 2023.

Both Collins and Axiom were previously selected for other xEVAS task awards, and the terms of the contract allow both companies to own the technology they develop and use it for non-NASA applications, according to an agency press release from 2022.

The Artemis III mission is planned for 2025, according to NASA’s website, and will be the first manned mission to the moon in over 50 years. The mission will explore the region near the moon’s south pole, using an Orion spacecraft to bring the crew to the moon.

[Wattleigh]

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...e-station.html

Axiom Space closes $350M Series C as space projects continue

By Jishnu Nair - Reporter
August 21, 2023, 01:16pm CDT

Houston-based space company Axiom Space closed a $350 million funding round as it prepares to launch one of its biggest commercial space projects in 2026.

The Series C round was led by the Saudi Arabia-based firm Aljazira Capital and South Korea-based Boryung Ltd., Axiom said Aug. 21. This funding takes Axiom’s total raised to $505 million, which the company said is second only to California-based SpaceX among private space companies, citing data from Pitchbook.

Axiom did not disclose what the funding would be used for in its announcement but confirmed it plans to launch the first module of its Axiom Station project in 2026. The project will create a commercial free-flying space station, which will initially be attached to the International Space Station until the planned retirement of the ISS in 2031. Axiom Space is currently building its Houston Spaceport headquarters, which will be used to produce the Axiom Station.

Houston Inno reached out for further details from Axiom Space on the use of its funding.

[Wattleigh]

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...port-open.html

Intuitive Machines opens $40M production center at Houston Spaceport ahead of moon mission

By Jishnu Nair - Reporter
September 29, 2023, 02:30pm CDT

Houston-based Intuitive Machines (Nasdaq: LUNR) has completed its Lunar Operations and Production Center and is preparing to send its first lunar lander product to Florida in support of a NASA mission.

Intuitive Machines broke ground on the $40 million center at the Houston Spaceport in December 2021. The center spans 12.5 acres and includes 125,000 square feet of office and production space, including 45-foot cranes intended to move the landers through the facility. Intuitive Machines opened the facility on Sept. 29. Kansas City-based Burns & McConnell designed and built the center.

Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus said during an Aug. 15 earnings call that the company’s Nova Lunar Lander could be ready for a moon landing as early as Nov. 15, though an exact date is conditional on NASA’s launch schedule and the availability of SpaceX rockets. Intuitive Machines would be the first private company to touch down on the moon’s surface.

The planned moon mission, IM-1, is funded by NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, which is intended to reestablish a presence on the moon. Intuitive Machines won the CLPS bid in 2018. NASA is also planning its third Artemis mission, which will be the agency’s first crewed mission to the moon in over 50 years following Apollo 17 in 1972.

[Wattleigh]

https://houston.innovationmap.com/pr...665854834.html

Houston company collaborates with major fashion designer for spacesuit

John Egan
Oct 9, 2023, 10:30 am

Courtesy of the Prada luxury brand, NASA astronauts are getting an infusion of fashion.

Prada is collaborating with Houston-based aerospace company Axiom Space on the design of spacesuits for NASA’s Artemis III mission to the moon. Astronauts haven’t yet been chosen for the mission, which is set for 2025.

“Prada’s technical expertise with raw materials, manufacturing techniques, and innovative design concepts will bring advanced technologies instrumental in ensuring not only the comfort of astronauts on the lunar surface, but also the much-needed human factors considerations absent from legacy spacesuits,” says Michael Suffredini, co-founder, president, and CEO of Axiom Space.

The spacesuit, called the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU), is geared toward improving astronauts’ flexibility, boosting protection against harsh conditions, and supplying tools for exploration and scientific activities.

[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.

[Wattleigh]

https://communityimpact.com/houston/...ton-spaceport/

Axiom Space cuts ribbon on newest facility at Houston Spaceport

By James T. Norman | 2:16 PM Dec 7, 2023 CST
Updated 2:16 PM Dec 7, 2023 CST

Roughly 18 months after breaking ground, Axiom Space officials cut the ribbon Dec. 7 on their new 400,000-square-foot facility at the Houston Spaceport.

What you need to know

The company is aiming to manufacture the world’s first commercial space station and train private astronauts. The goal is to launch the company’s first module by 2026, and will receive some of the items needed to start building it as soon as 2024, President and CEO Michael Suffredini said at the event.

Those modules will latch onto the International Space Station, officials said in May 2022. Once the ISS is decommissioned around 2030, those modules will detach and latch onto each other and remain as a commercial space station.

[Wattleigh]

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...nch-delay.html

Intuitive Machines lunar lander launch window shifts after delays

By Jishnu Nair - Reporter
December 21, 2023, 12:22pm CST

Houston-based Intuitive Machines (Nasdaq: LUNR) will have to wait a little longer to land its craft on the moon’s surface next year after its launch window shifted.

According to a release from the company this week, the IM-1 lunar lander mission will now be targeted for a multi-day window that opens no earlier than February 2024, due to projected unfavorable weather conditions. California-based SpaceX will carry Intuitive Machines’ Nova Lunar Lander

IM-1 is slated to land on the south pole of the moon, and the company said that the specific lighting conditions required for the mission was another factor in the launch window changing.

According to Intuitive Machines’ website, the IM-1 payload will include a Navigation Doppler Lidar — a sensor that can provide velocity and range detection during the lander’s descent — from NASA’s Langley Research Center. The craft will also carry a sculpture from the artist Jeff Koons, which will be installed on the moon. The mission itself is funded by NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, which is intended to reestablish a presence on the moon.

[Wattleigh]

Near the Spaceport...

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...Pos=0#cxrecs_s

Texas A&M Space Institute signs on as first tenant in NASA's planned Exploration Park

By Jishnu Nair – Reporter, Houston Business Journal
Feb 15, 2024

Texas A&M University's planned Space Institute will be the first tenant in what could be a much bigger piece of NASA's vision for Houston as a space hub.

On Feb. 15, TAMU System Chancellor John Sharp and Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, signed a ground lease committing the two entities to over 30 acres of space on land near the JSC for the $200 million Texas A&M Space Institute announced last year.

The site is part of approximately 240 acres of space that is currently undeveloped and outside JSC's controlled area, which means access restrictions will be looser, Wyche said. NASA hopes to turn the land into a multipurpose development known as Exploration Park. The Space Institute is the development’s first tenant.

"The way NASA is doing business today is different than it was in the past," Wyche said. "We have government programs, commercial programs and then there's private investors and entrepreneurs. So we're laying out a space architecture that allows for us to have all of these communities to intertwine and work together both in space and here on Earth."

NASA is currently in talks with developers to build out Exploration Park, Wyche said. According to a request for proposals from July 2023, the 240-acre site is divided into 10-acre parcels. Future Exploration Park tenants could include international space agencies that are looking for larger presences in Houston, Wyche said.

[Wattleigh]

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/new...g-18679808.php

Intuitive Machines' Houston-made spacecraft will try to land on the moon today

By Andrea Leinfelder,
Staff writer
Feb 22, 2024

This afternoon, a lander built by Houston's Intuitive Machines could become the first U.S. spacecraft to gently touch down on the moon since the Apollo program more than 50 years ago.

The company, which is also vying to be the first private outfit to complete a soft lunar landing, will attempt the maneuver at 4:30 p.m.

“Everyone just wants to see the United States return to the moon,” Intuitive Machines’ CEO Steve Altemus previously told the Houston Chronicle. “There has been a tremendous outpouring from everyone in the Houston, Texas area — and around the country — pulling for Intuitive Machines to be successful.”

The company's uncrewed lander, named Odysseus, launched Feb. 15 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Intuitive Machines' employees have been monitoring Odysseus around the clock, working eight-hour shifts.

The lander experienced a navigation issue shortly after liftoff but a software patch solved the problem. Odysseus has since continued its journey to the moon (capturing fantastic images of the Earth and the moon along the way) and began circling the celestial body on Wednesday.

This mission, IM-1, has garnered worldwide headlines and even a shout-out on the Las Vegas Sphere from Columbia Sportswear, which placed its heat insulation technology on the lander.

Thursday's landing will have live video commentary aired on NASA and Intuitive Machines' social media platforms and websites.

[Wattleigh]

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/new...n-18677914.php

Intuitive Machines' Nova-C spacecraft, named Odysseus, passes over the near side of the moon on Feb. 21, 2024.

Intuitive Machines

Houston’s Intuitive Machines makes history as first private company to touch down on the moon

By Andrea Leinfelder,
Staff writer
Feb 22, 2024

A Houston delegate is once again on the moon.

Intuitive Machines’ uncrewed lander made history Thursday as the first privately owned spacecraft to touch down on the lunar surface, though the company was still analyzing the condition of the lander.

The environment was tense at a company watch party in Houston as the landing time passed and employees waited to receive communications from their spacecraft. Then Intuitive Machines Chief Technology Officer Tim Crain made an announcement from mission control: "We can confirm, without a doubt, that our equipment is on the surface of the moon and we are transmitting."

The room leapt to its feet. Employees decked in Intuitive Machines gear congratulated one another and celebrated with their children dressed as astronauts.

After four years of preparations, the company’s 14-foot-tall Nova-C lander navigated to a spot near the moon’s South Pole. It was the 24th mission to softly land on the moon since 1966. And with it comes a new era of exploration.

NASA and its Houston-trained astronauts dominated moonshots of the ‘60s and ‘70s. This time, commercial companies and other countries are sharing more of the action.

"To actually have my hands in this, to be a participant in this, it's a wild experience," said Mario Romero, an Intuitive Machines assembly, integration, and test engineer who brought his wife and 8-week-old son to the company's watch party.

[Wattleigh]

Another for Exploration Park...

https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/na...park-facility/

NASA Selects ACMI as Second Approved Exploration Park Facility

Johnson Space Center Office of Communications
FEB 29, 2024
RELEASE
J24-004
Johnson Space Center

NASA and the American Center for Manufacturing and Innovation (ACMI) signed an agreement Thursday, Feb. 29 to lease underutilized land in a 240-acre Exploration Park at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. ACMI will enable the development of facilities to enable commercial and defense space manufacturing.

The agreement is the second such public/private lease agreement to allow industry and academia to use NASA Johnson land to create facilities for a collaborative development environment that increases commercial access and enhances the United States’ commercial competitiveness in the space and aerospace industries. NASA signed a similar lease with the Texas A&M University System earlier this month.

Calling it the Space Systems Campus, ACMI plans to incorporate an applied research facility partnered with multiple stakeholders across academia, state and local government, the Department of Defense and regional economic development organizations.

“For more than 60 years, NASA Johnson has been the hub of human space exploration,” said NASA Johnson Director Vanessa Wyche. “This Space Systems Campus will be a significant component within our objectives for a robust and durable space economy that will benefit not only the nation’s efforts to explore the Moon, Mars and the asteroids, but all of humanity as the benefits of space exploration research roll home to Earth.”

[Wattleigh]

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...e-tenants.html

NASA’s Exploration Park is fully leased, but commercial spaceflight tenants are still welcome

By Jishnu Nair - Reporter
March 06, 2024, 04:58pm CST

Just after a Houston-built spacecraft landed on the moon, NASA completed one big leap for the agency by fully leasing a new development for commercial space.

However, the newest tenant plans to lease out its facilities to companies looking for room to develop technology while staying close to NASA’s Houston operations.

Exploration Park is currently 240 acres of undeveloped land, but between Texas A&M University’s $200 million Space Institute and the American Center of Manufacturing and Innovation’s new Space Systems Campus, NASA expects to see considerable growth in Houston’s commercial space economy.

The development is located outside of the Johnson Space Center’s controlled-access area, which JSC Director Vanessa Wyche said was a big selling point for interested tenants. The agency issued a request for proposals for the space in June 2023, according to documents the Houston Business Journal viewed.

“We were looking for someone that’s going to be able to reach out to other government agencies, academia and entrepreneurs,” Wyche said during a March 6 press conference at the Bay Area of Houston Economic Partnership.

Although the Exploration Park space is fully leased, NASA does have facilities at the JSC that periodically open for companies to lease, albeit within a controlled entry area, Wyche added.

[Wattleigh]

https://abc13.com/taxiway-lima-appro...port/14501294/

New taxiway to connect Houston Spaceport to Ellington Airport gets $16 million project approved

ByJames T. Norman
Thursday, March 7, 2024 7:20PM

HOUSTON, Texas -- The first phase of a taxiway connecting the Houston Spaceport to Ellington Airport is set to be built after Houston City Council approved Phase 1 of construction at its March 6 meeting.

What you need to know

Taxiway L, also referred to as Taxiway Lima, will be a roughly 2-mile stretch of taxiway built out at Ellington Airport, according to maps provided by the Houston Airport System.

The project's first phase was approved on March 6 unanimously and without comment from the Houston City Council.

According to city documents, the taxiway project will be built out in three phases, which in their totality will include:

-Design and construction of the taxiway
-Associated connectors on the south side
-Design and construction of runway shoulders with new edge lights
-Relocation of wind cones
-Addition of all required markings, signage, and lighting
-Drainage improvements

The first phase covers the design and construction of the taxiway itself, along with one of the connectors to a runway, according to agenda documents.

The funds for Phase 1 of the project, totaling $16 million, will come out of the Houston Airport System's enterprise fund, officials said in an email. A portion of the funds is reimbursable through grants from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Put in perspective

The taxiway will act as a general upgrade to the airport, said Jim Szczesniak, director of aviation for the Houston Airport System, which oversees the spaceport. However, because of where it's located, it will "open up possibilities for the spaceport," including 400 acres of land for future development.

Houston Spaceport thus far has added three businesses to its park-Collins Aerospace, Intuitive Machines, and Axiom Space-and is looking to continue expanding that count, Szczesniak said. The new taxiway is expected to help them as they grow their locations at the spaceport.

[Wattleigh]

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...Pos=1#cxrecs_s

Johnson Space Center director shares ‘grand vision’ of Exploration Park, Houston space economy

By Jishnu Nair – Reporter, Houston Business Journal
Mar 18, 2024

Five years ago, Nasa Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche and her team were on overdrive.

At that time, the International Space Station was only funded until 2024, and the idea of replacing it was still emerging. Many factors had to be considered — the amount of missions on NASA’s calendars, the new space companies that were looking to replace the ISS, and the agency’s workforce, which needed assurance that NASA had a strategy for low-earth orbit.

The answer: follow the path of transitions made at the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida. That means using Exploration Park, NASA’s new 240-acre development just outside of the center, as a hub for final design, development, testing and operations. Exploration Park has already leased two tenants — the Texas A&M University Space Institute and Austin-based American Center for Manufacturing and Innovation or ACMI.

“How do we make ourselves a place where these industry partners want to come? We needed to be looking at that holistically and the workforce needed to understand what that meant for them,” Wyche said in an interview with the Houston Business Journal. “We knew that other NASA facilities had been successful, and that also spurred us to go ahead and start leasing out our land."

ACMI will continue to lease its planned spaces to tenants. CEO John Burer told the HBJ at a media event in March that the company is in discussions with tenants for its buildings, which include room for research and development, testing beds, and office space that can be used by single or multiple tenants.

Wyche said her idea of future tenants include international partners, academic partners, and different companies working on projects relevant to Johnson’s budgetary goals, such as vehicles and installations on the moon’s surface. As an example, Wyche highlighted an unnamed international company working on a pressurized rover that is habitation-capable.

“You’ve got all these installations, your astronauts in their spacesuits, you may have a lander with science payloads,” Wyche said. “Where can you go to make sure all of these things are integrated, that they can share data, robotically interface with each other? Ultimately, our responsibilities include those technologies being potentially spun off to help other solutions right here on Earth.”

[Wattleigh]

Looks like the Airport System is looking to land a client for a spot out at Ellington/Houston Spaceport.

https://www.fly2houston.com/biz/oppo...citations/2591

The Houston Airport System (HAS) is seeking industry information and input for innovative strategies and approaches from highly qualified firms that can be applied or included in the development of a subsequent Request for Qualifications (for Statement of Qualifications – RFQ) and Request for Proposals (RFP) that support attainment of the EFD/HSP goal to develop and construct an approximately 120,000 sf specified building with potential uses of light manufacturing/assembly for advanced products, high bay, and office space at Ellington Airport (EFD)/Houston Spaceport (HSP). EFD/HSP is open to, but not limited to, business models provided by a firm (or team) with competencies to Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Maintain (DBFOM).

[Wattleigh]

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2024/04/04/intuitive-machines-lands-nasa-lunar-vehicle-award.html?cx_testId=40&cx_testVariant=cx_27&cx_artPos=0#cxrecs_s

Intuitive Machines lands part of $4.6B NASA lunar vehicle award

By Jishnu Nair – Reporter, Houston Business Journal
Apr 4, 2024

The Houston space company that made history this year could be playing a key role in NASA’s manned return to the moon.

Intuitive Machines Inc. (Nasdaq: LUNR) was named as one of three recipients for NASA’s Lunar Terrain Vehicle Services contract, which has a combined maximum potential value of $4.6 billion for all awards to multiple companies. For Intuitive Machines, the initial award is valued at $30 million for a feasibility assessment, which will take a year to complete.

The vehicle will be used for NASA's Artemis III mission, which is the agency's first return to the moon since 1972. That mission is anticipated to launch no earlier than 2026. Intuitive Machines' initial award could be followed by further task orders with higher dollar amounts for a term of up to 10 years, the company said April 3.

“This procurement strategically aligns with the company’s flight-proven capability to deliver payloads to the surface of the moon under the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, further solidifying our position as a proven commercial contractor in lunar exploration,” Intuitive Machines CEO Stephen Altemus said in a news release.

Altemus also confirmed that the potential lunar terrain vehicle, or LTV, would be usable for non-NASA purposes as the contract allows Intuitive Machines to keep ownership. Trent Martin, vice president of space systems at Intuitive Machines, said the vehicle can also be controlled both by astronauts and remotely.

"Since we anticipate being able to drive the vehicle remotely from our control room in Houston, we could either perform services for commercial customers or even launch and land commercial payloads from the Earth to the moon and then use the LTV to deploy or perform activities on the moon with the LTV," Martin told the HBJ via email. "NASA will pay for services, both with astronauts driving and with remote operations, but they will not use the LTV the entire time."

Intuitive Machines will be producing the contract through its Moon Reusable Autonomous Crewed Exploration Rover, or Moon RACER, program. The developing craft has the model number Nova-D, and Intuitive Machines selected Austrian-based AVL, Virginia-based The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) and Virginia-based Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC) as partners. The program was announced in the first quarter of 2023.