Jun. 8—Mayor Sylvester Turner and the Houston Airport System broke ground on the new Collins Aerospace Building at the Houston Spaceport Monday.
According to a news release, the new building will serve as an "incubator" to support future space flight.
" Collins Aerospace's new campus is yet another a game-changer for Houston as we position our region as one of the country's leading next-generation tech and aerospace hubs," Turner said. "We are leveraging Houston's many advantages, including our dynamic workforce, to fuel the future of aerospace — a potentially trillion-dollar, 21st-century commercial space economy."
The new Collins Aerospace location will continue to be part of the company's Mission Systems business, one of six strategic business units of Collins Aerospace.
The new campus is eight acres and 120,000 square feet in its entirety. The incubator also has a dedicated 10,000 square-foot area for start-ups and universities to collaborate on solving critical space technology challenges, including robotics, medicine and additive manufacturing.
The press release notes that "as an anchor tenant of Houston Spaceport, Collins Aerospace will receive up to $25.6 million in financing from Houston Airports for capital improvements. The amount financed will be reimbursed by Collins Aerospace."
Houston Airports Director Mario Diaz is also in support of the incubator finding its home in Houston.
" Collins Aerospace is a great fit at Houston Spaceport. The partnership is a key element to realizing the importance of Houston Spaceport — a center for collaboration and innovation where the brightest minds in the world can lead us beyond the next frontier of space exploration.
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