Houston is preparing for a conglomeration of companies that together can meet the various needs of the space industry. The Houston Spaceport will be a community of companies that can invent, develop and manufacture space technologies. But before Houston Spaceport can get started they need to find a design-build firm to develop the roads and utilities needed to attract this cluster of aerospace businesses to Ellington Airport.
Before launching spacecraft into zero gravity, officials want to create a community of companies that can invent, develop and manufacture space technologies. This design-build firm will lay the necessary groundwork — roads, water lines, communication cables, etc. — to attract those companies.
"We are moving forward with the actual construction of the infrastructure that we've been planning for," said Arturo Machuca, general manager of Ellington and the Houston Spaceport.
The project is expected to cost about $18.5 million. That money will come from Houston Airport System revenues and a $1 million grant from the U.S.Department of CommerceEconomic Development Administration.
If the timeline goes as planned, the Houston Airport System will ask the City Council to approve its selection of a design-build firm Dec. 6. Once construction begins, the project should take about 12 months.
The project is expected to cost about $18.5 million. That money will come from Houston Airport System revenues and a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration.