2022 took off with significant milestones for the world’s first commercial space station builder, Axiom Space. Just as NASA and its international partners approved Axiom Space’s first astronaut crewed mission to the International Space Station, the City of Houston finalized its ground lease and user agreement at the Houston Spaceport. 

The City of Houston enacted an ordinance appropriating $39,950,000 from the Airports Improvement Fund and authorizing a ground lease for Axiom’s Aerospace Operations and Technology Facility at Houston Spaceport at Ellington Airport, EFD. The headquarters campus will be used to train private astronauts and for production of its Axiom Station – the world’s first private space station. The funds will be reimbursed by Houston Airports and charged back to Axiom Space under a cost-recovery methodology. 

Axiom will begin construction before the summer, explains Arturo Machuca, Director of Houston Spaceport & Ellington Airport, and in doing so he says the Houston Spaceport is closer than ever to becoming a focal point for aerospace innovation. 

“Having Axiom Space begin construction at the Spaceport completes our anchor tenant triangle,” said Machuca. “Our first three major aerospace companies actively building facilities at the Houston Spaceport will be key to lead the U.S in a transition from a government-driven space program to a commercial-driven program.” 

The development of new facilities for Intuitive Machines and Collins Aerospace is well underway at the spaceport. Cumulatively, the three anchor tenants plan to build approximately 577,000 sq ft of infrastructure on more than 42 acres of the 153 developed and ready-to-build acres of the Houston Spaceport. 

Axiom will begin construction in multiple phases. The first component will be a high bay building for assembly and build-out of certain space station modules. Additional components will provide integration labs, manufacturing areas, a maintenance hangar, bonded storage, and office and support space for the management of aerospace operations. The campus will have ease of access to the Ellington airfield.  

“With the capability to assemble the Axiom Station on site, our close proximity to NASA’s Johnson Space Center, as well as having the infrastructure in place to train their private astronauts, Axiom will have the flexibility it needs at the Houston Spaceport as they build the future of commercial space flight,” Machuca said. 

Houston will reap the benefits of the developments happening at the 10th licensed spaceport in the United States and the first located in an urban setting. Axiom Space’s headquarters campus is expected to add 1,000 high-quality jobs. Inclusive of employment opportunities at Collins Aerospace and Intuitive Machines, the Houston Spaceport will add approximately 1,300 total jobs. 

Even before Axiom has broken ground at the Houston Spaceport, the Houston-based company is making history. On March 30, 2022, Axiom will launch AX-1 or the Axiom Mission, the first all-private crewed mission to the International Space Station. Ax-1 will launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The four-member crew will spend 10 days in orbit.