NASA’s joining hands with Houston’s Airport System to turn Ellington Airfield into a NASA spaceport. The Johnson Space Center is joining hands with Houston to build the United States’ tenth commercial spaceport to be built. There’s been a plan to turn Houston into a formidable force in the aerospace industry, and NASA is fully backing the initiative to bring this NASA spaceport to life.
Ellington Airfield was granted a license to become a spaceport this past summer, and although it is no guarantee that the space will become what the HAS and NASA are envisioning, it’s surely a great dream to attempt to pursue.
The drawbacks, naturally, lie in funding. The NASA spaceport is set to cost between $48 million and $122 million, and only about $75,000 has been invested into research for the project. Seeing as there aren’t any real funds supporting the project, it is likely that it’ll take more time than anticipated.
However, since NASA is stepping up to the plate, there’s more brain work to go around, and perhaps they could find a way to use cheaper means to get to the end. The HAS will have access to NASA’s facilities, training, technology and space assets that can at least give a slight push in the right direction, and bring the NASA spaceport to fruition.
