Axiom Space will develop its commercial space station at the Houston Spaceport, a venture that could help spur long-held ambitions for turning the spaceport at Ellington Field into a hub of aerospace activity.
Axiom Space, based in Houston, plans to develop a 14-acre headquarters campus at the spaceport. It will use this campus to train private astronauts and for production of its Axiom Station. Mayor Sylvester Turner announced the project Dec. 22.
“It’s good news, especially in a very challenging year,” Turner said during a news conference. “And what it demonstrates is that in this city, working directly with the business community, we are creating the atmosphere and right environment such that as we come out of the pandemic we will be — I will use this expression — we will take off in the city of Houston.”
Terms of the deal, including how the development would be financed, are still being worked out and must be approved by City Council. The Houston Airport System, for instance, could help provide financing that Axiom Space would pay back.
Axiom said construction could begin in 2021, and it expects to have a functional headquarters campus in 2023. The company grew its workforce to 90 people this year and is looking to hire another 100 next year. Ultimately, it could add more than 1,000 jobs for the Houston area.
