The Houston Airport System is joining forces with NASA.
By Raif Karerat
NASA is officially partnering with the Houston Airport System to create a state-of-the-art spaceport in the state of Texas.
“The Johnson Space Center represents an invaluable asset for the entire City of Houston and especially for those of us who are working to establish Houston spaceport as a force within the aerospace industry,†Houston Airport System Director Mario Diaz says. “One of the primary reasons why the City of Houston made such perfect sense as the site for the nation’s 10th commercial spaceport is the existence of strong intellectual capital at JSC and the willingness of their leadership team to form substantive partnerships.â€
Back in July, it was announced with fanfare and celebration that Ellington Airfield had managed to secure a license to become a spaceport, the tenth such licensed spaceport in the United States.
However, even though the city council signed off on plans to turn Ellington into a spaceport two years ago, city officials haven’t actually invested much money in the project, which will cost between $48 million and $122 million to get the place ready to actually handle spacecraft landings, according to HoustonPress.
The construction of a true spaceport is closer to becoming a reality thanks to the Houston Airport System’s deal with NASA, which will see the U.S. space agency support Houston’s spaceport dream, providing the airport system with access to Johnson Space Center’s space assets, including things like safety-specific training, facilities, and technology capabilities, to support suborbital operations and commercial spaceflight endeavors.
NASA might not be able to bring a cash infusion to the table, after all it can hardly support its own federally-funded endeavors, but its affiliation with Ellington can only help stand out from the gaggle of nine other licensed spaceports in the United States.