The future of low-Earth orbit and human spaceflight in Space City, has a new base of operations as Axiom Space breaks ground on a new state-of-the-art headquarters in Houston.
On Wednesday, May 11, commercial space leader Axiom Space and the City of Houston celebrated groundbreaking at the company’s new, long-term headquarters at Ellington Airport, the site of the Houston Spaceport. There, Axiom Space – which is developing Axiom Station, the world’s first commercial space station – will construct a campus containing employee offices, astronaut training, and mission control facilities, engineering development and testing labs, and a high bay production facility to house Axiom’s space station modules under construction.
“From this Axiom Space headquarters campus, we will continue the progress in space that will revolutionize life back home,” Axiom Space President & CEO Michael Suffredini said. “We are proud to be an anchor tenant of the Houston Spaceport and ensure the future of human spaceflight and the space economy is centered in the city where it all began.”
Houston’s leadership in the Apollo, Space Shuttle, and ISS programs earned its title as Space City, the home of human spaceflight.
Now Axiom Space is adding a new accolade to Space City, for the first time in the city’s history it will be home to the development and construction of human-rated spacecraft thanks to Axiom Stations modules, which will be outfitted and assembled at Axiom’s facility at the Spaceport.
“These are historically exciting times for us all. As the city that helped put men on the moon, Houston continues to lead the way in technology and innovation,” said Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner. “Axiom Space has set itself apart from others in the private space industry. Our city – Space City – couldn’t be prouder for our own Houston Spaceport to serve as home base for such momentous commercial and academic advancement.”
Axiom Space has partnered with Jacobs, Turner Construction Company, Savills, and Griffin Partners to expand the company’s headquarters at Houston Spaceport. Jacobs, in close collaboration with Axiom Space, designed the assembly, integration, and testing facility. Axiom Space has contracted with Turner for site construction. Savills real estate firm represented Axiom Space in the lease negotiations, and Griffin Partners is providing development management services for the project.
The development of Axiom Space’s Spaceport property will be developed in two phases. Phase I includes 106,000 square feet of assembly integration and test facilities and aims to be completed by April 2023. The second phase will add facilities for labs, mission operations and training, aircraft operations, and office space.
This is Axiom Space’s latest accomplishment as it grows the commercial space industry and expands access to low-Earth orbit to a broader international community. Axiom Space recently welcomed home the crew of Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) after successfully completing the first all-private astronaut mission to the ISS, a precursor mission to Axiom Station. The company has also signed agreements with several nations including Italy, Hungary, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to fly on future space missions.
Axiom Space was founded in Houston in 2016 by Michael Suffredini – NASA’s ISS Program Manager from 2005 to 2015 – and space entrepreneur Kam Ghaffarian to build the world’s first commercial space station and develop commercial space infrastructure that will drive a thriving low-Earth orbit economy. The company currently employs more than 400 people, the majority of which work at its current Houston facilities and has plans to grow the number to 600 by the end of 2022 and 1,000 by 2025.
