Houston City Council approves aerospace facility to implement 'new technologies that can make our manufacturing more efficient'

The Houston City Council unanimously voted in favor of Collins Aerospace's new aerospace facility and Axiom Space's new development project.

"Exciting things are happening at the Houston Spaceport,” said Houston Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin.

The agreement with Collins Aerospace calls for a new eight-acre, approximately 120,000-square-foot campus that will support spaceflight and host Houston’s first spaceflight incubator, at Houston Spaceport. The $18 million project is expected to begin its operations by next summer is expected to be a boon for the aviation industry. The partnership with Axiom is for an Aerospace Operations and Technology and Facility Development Project at Houston Spaceport. 

The Houston Spaceport is the country's 10th commercially licensed spaceport. It was granted a launch site license by the Federal Aviation Administration in 2015. The company broke ground for the test facility May 19. The multi-million dollar project is expected to make large contributions to the aviation industry and to save lives. The first phase of the innovative project was celebrated at Ellington Airport.

The construction session completed street and water systems, electrical power and distribution, fiber optics and communications facilities and 154 acres of land. The activities scheduled to begin soon at the facility include space vehicle assemblies, microsatellite deployment and astronaut training, among others. Some of the safety measures that will be produced include ram air turbines, which are typically only seen in new planes or used by NASA or Boeing. The turbines have been released amid state of emergencies for over four decades. According to Collins Aerospace VP Stan Kottke, over 2,000 lives have been saved with the advancement. 

“When you look at those and the technology that was available back then, we’ve identified new technologies that can make our manufacturing more efficient as well as safer for our employees,” Kottke said.

The company’s partner, Intuitive Machines, is set to contribute lunar landers and drones through a $77.2 million contract it has developed with NASA in hopes of becoming the first-ever private U.S establishment to land a spacecraft on the moon in 2021.