Ellington Airport prepares for future space tourism

Ellington Airport has had some major updates this past year with the relocation of the Lone Star Flight Museum, approval for the building of a new air traffic control tower and the opening of the Houston Spaceport Innovation Lab. All of these advancements are paving the way to bring commercial spaceflight and tourism to Houston.

Ellington Airport’s 2,200 acres are home to NASA, the U.S Coast Guard, Texas Air National Guard, Army Air Guard and now the Lone Star Flight Museum and Houston Spaceport.

“We are scheduled to open Labor Day Weekend,” said Larry Gregory, president of the Lone Star Flight Museum.  “In addition to our Aircraft Hangars and Texas Aviation Hall of Fame,  we will be installing a Flight Academy, Aviation Heritage Gallery, and an Aviation Learning Center.”

The two large Aircraft Hangars hold 15-20 historic aircraft; many of the planes are still flyable and available for flight experiences with licensed pilots.

The Aviation Learning Center can host groups of 20-30 students and will offer instruction in the basics of flight, weather and flight training in order to prepare student visitors to plan an “out and back” from Houston to a nearby destination. Students will take a preflight walk around the aircraft and identify problems before using the flight simulators.

The museum is currently taking donations of iPads to be used in the Aviation Learning Center. To donate visit, http://www.lonestarflight.org/news/donate-your-used-ipad-us.

In addition to the museum, Ellington Airport is getting a new air traffic control tower. The $12.4 million plan to construct a new tower was recently approved by unanimous vote of the Houston City Council. The current tower was damaged by Hurricane Ike in 2008 and is being supported by steel beams.

At 143 feet tall, the new tower will be almost twice the size of the current tower and feature an automated weather observation system that determines cloud height, temperature, rainfall amounts and presence of other weather conditions in the area.

The new tower will be the first of its kind to have a dedicated mission control for spaceflight operations. It will be able to handle the high-traffic area of mixed high-performance military and civilian commercial air traffic, which is vital to the continuation of the Houston Spaceport. It is expected to be completed August of this year.

Phase 1 of the Houston Spaceport is well under way with the Houston Aerospace Support Center (HASC) open for business. “These kinds of complex endeavors like a Houston spaceport take a lot of commitment from senior leaders in the Houston area and they take time,” said Steve Altemus, president and CEO of Intuitive Machines, a tenant at HASC. “To see that the effort over the past few years is starting to take root with real facilities and real investment in a spaceport is exciting. I am happy to see the result of a lot of effort over the last few years come to fruition.”

HASC provides a 53,000-square-foot space for laboratory and office work where different Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) companies can work together seamlessly on space vehicle assembly, zero-gravity medical experiments, astronaut training and a variety of other projects.

Later this year, Phase 1 will continue with a full-length taxiway parallel to the existing runways to provide airside access to the spaceport’s hangars.

Houston Spaceport is the 10th commercial airport in the country and the only spaceport located so close to a metropolitan area.

“At this time the City of Houston is at the forefront of space tourism, and as we begin to formalize what the industry will look like for our City we will keep the interests of the community and the residents we serve in mind,” said Dave Martin, Houston City Council member. “We will welcome any company in the Space Tourism Industry to the City of Houston if their mission is to become good economic partners, and foster an environment for job creation to help grow our South Houston economy.”

To learn more about Ellington Airport and its upcoming events visit, https://www.fly2houston.com/ellington-airport/.