The world’s first commercial space station is headquartering in Houston, and we couldn’t be happier for our southern neighbor city. Houston Spaceport joined NASA and the Johnson Space Center in Space City this past December and now plans to build a headquarters for the world’s first commercial space station builder, Axiom Space.
Already known for its deep influence on aerospace advancement, the city of Houston will proudly house the headquarters for Axiom Space with the goal of constructing a private space station. According to Houston May Turner, Axiom Space Station “will be the world’s first free-flying internationally available private space station that will serve as humanity’s central hub for research, manufacturing, and commerce.”
The privately funded station will orbit 250 miles above Earth’s surface and travel at a remarkable speed of 17,000 miles per hour. The intention is to create a “commercial laboratory and residential infrastructure in space” that encourages “microgravity experiments, critical space-environment materials testing, and private and professional astronauts alike,” according to their website.
Houston Spaceport already shares a 150-acre wing with Ellington Airport, but the construction start date for the Axiom Space headquarters has yet to be announced. Construction of a 322,000-square-foot facility is expected to last at least two years but the plan is to have a functional headquarters for training private astronauts and assembling the station by 2023. Over 1,000 STEM career opportunities are expected to open up in Houston.
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NASA will generously offer its resources and expertise to Houston Spaceport to allow an expansion of opportunities and knowledge in the aerospace industry. Houston Spaceport’s primary spaceflight operations will be commercial and suborbital.
The United States is home to nine other commercially licensed space stations, but this is the first time a space station will be headquarters to a space station builder, Axiom Space. Houston Spaceport is proud of its “urban” location, just 18 miles from downtown Houston.