NASA will partner with the Houston Airport System (HAS) to develop one of 10 spaceports being permitted by the FAA near its home base at the Johnson Space Center. Cape Canaveral notwithstanding, NASA will partner with HAS to develop Ellington Airport into a spaceport. Spaceports, in the current definition, are airports where suborbital space flights can be launched for commercial, scientific or amusement purposes. So far, the field has been dominated by startups like Virgin Galactic but NASA’s entry to the market skews the competitive landscape somewhat and begs for more details. The airport, one of the oldest military airfields in the country, already has spaceport designation thanks to the Sierra Nevada Corporation, which envisions its Dream Chaser space plane taking off and recovering from the field. The nitty gritty will apparently be unveiled Nov. 4.
A news release from NASA and HAS calls the agreement a “landmark event” and says “NASA and the Houston Airport System (HAS) will formally enter a development agreement to provide NASA expertise and training at Houston’s new Spaceport installation.” The news conference and announcement will be held at the Johnson Space Center and local dignitaries will attend.
