Up to $10 million, about half of the funding approved May 22, will go to Austin-based CesiumAstro Inc. to build a satellite factory and headquarters. The rest will go to boosting space education in Texas high schools, developing orbital data centers, working on a magnetic gear that's headed to the International Space Station and studying the feasibility of building space-related infrastructure in the Abilene area.
The awards bring the commission's investment to $115.9 million of the $150 million that the Texas Legislature appropriated in 2023 for the state's Space Exploration and Aeronautics Research fund.
In addition to Austin's CesiumAstro, grant money also will go to the Aldrin Family Foundation of Southlake, Axiom Space Inc. of Houston, FluxWorks Inc. of Conroe and the West Central Texas Council of Governments, based in Abilene.
CesiumAstro
The global space and defense firm already is based in Austin and has a product showroom there.
The funds will go to its new factory and "integrated headquarters to support CesiumAstro's new satellite platform," according to the commission. The factory will use advanced manufacturing technologies and feature shared work and test space for other aerospace companies.
Last year, Gov. Greg Abbott named Shey Sabripour, the firm's founder and CEO, to the executive committee of an advisory body to the space commission, the Texas Aerospace Research and Space Economy Consortium.
Aldrin Family Foundation
The nonprofit has been working to connect space experts with educators since the late 1990s.
The commission approved its request for $4.7 million to scale its Student Satellites in Space, or S-Cubed, program into high schools across the state.
"This grant marks a powerful leap forward for space education in Texas," said Aldrin, the astronaut turned founder and chair emeritus of the foundation. "By investing in students today, we're preparing the explorers of tomorrow and honoring the legacy of Texas in America's journey to space."
Grant money will toward recruiting and developing teachers, expanding into more classrooms and offering capstone missions that allow students to build and launch a satellite to space.
Commission Chair Gwen Griffin and secretary Kirk Shireman were recused from deliberation and voting for potential conflicts of interest.
Axiom Space
The commercial space company will get $5.5 million to develop orbital data centers for "emerging national security, civil and commercial needs and space-based mesh networking, satellite based data storage and processing, artificial intelligence and machine learning," the commission said.
Surging demand for data centers around the world has scientists and entrepreneurs looking to the heavens as a future home for the power-hungry computer hubs necessary for modern life.
On Earth, the warehouses of computer servers suck energy and are vulnerable to natural disasters or attack. Some see space as an alternative given its remoteness, endless supply of solar power and freezing temperatures.
The company previously has worked on the technology aboard the International Space Station, and plans to create the first orbital data center on the space station it's building. It plans to launch its first two orbital data center nodes to orbit by the end of the year.
A gear and a study
FluxWorks will get nearly $350,000 to continue developing a magnetic gear that will be tested on the International Space Station.
Evan Loomis, a commission board member, was recused from the discussion.
The commission also approved a $175,000 grant to the West Central Texas Council of Governments to study the feasibility of building infrastructure for future space operations. The association includes 19 counties around Abilene.
$34.1 million to go
So far, the commission has snubbed San Antonio space businesses including Southwest Research Institute, the University of Texas at San Antonio and Astroport Space Technologies. They were among 284 grant requests from 140 entities seeking $3.46 billion.
The commission has $34.1 million left to award.
Previous recipients include several other economic development groups, El Paso County and 13 commercial space firms, including SpaceX, Blue Origin, Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines.
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