Why Texas is the hottest place for space now

About 650 million people around the world watched a well -known breath while Neil Armstrong and Buzz aldrin landed on the moon in 1969. With only seconds of fuel survival, the success of APollo 11 Landing was closed with one line in Texas. “the eagle He fell. “

The timeless moment highlights the permanent role that Texas played on a space flight. “Everyone gets to know Texas as a leader of the space,” says Metra Avene, a Dallas -based Texas Politics Adviser.

The state’s space sector is expanding quickly. The World Economic Forum expects the global space economy to grow from $ 630 billion in 2023 to $ 1.8 trillion in 2035, driven by commercial investment and demand for space services, and Texas wants part of this procedure. Today, the state hosts more than 10 % of the workforce in the United States, about 200,000 workers, behind California and Washington only.

“The Legislative Commission in Texas has invested a large amount of money in the space industry,” says Kyle Demar, Air Space Engineer at the University of Texas A and M at the College Station. “If you are a student looking to storm the space industry, I will follow innovation, and Tixas is the place it is.”

Star horizons

Indeed, 18 of the 20 largest spacecraft companies in the United States are operating in Texas, and the country has witnessed the spread of smaller startup companies. It was drawn by the gravity of the large parcels of land for construction facilities, and the proximity of famous institutions such as the Johnson Space Center in NASA (JSC) in Houston, has established more than 500 companies in the space sector a store in Texas since 2019, with a total of about 2000 states.

Natural functional guide: Texas

In July 2024, Elon Musk, CEO of Spacex, said that the company will transform its headquarters from Hotoren, California, into a base star, a facility specifically designed in Boca Chika, on the Gulf coast in southern Texas. The most valuable Spacex company, SpaceX uses the attached to the development and launch of the stars missile, designed to take people to the moon and ultimately Mars. Musk was martyred in ideological differences with the governor of California state as a reason behind the transition.

Texas’s tax advantages make it an attractive destination for high owners and major companies. Currently, Texas does not have a state income tax, and it imposes a relatively low companies on companies through a “concession tax” – which, for most companies, is 0.75 % of its revenues. In contrast, the California income rate is 13.3 % on its highest owners, and corporate tax on 8.84 %.

More desalination for the deal, the Texas House of Representatives approved a draft law in May that exemptes the concession tax of all companies that work on the space companies used by the US Department of Defense. The state representative, Stan Gerdis, said the procedure is expected to attract more work and talents to the state. However, companies still have to pay property taxes in Texas, which is one of the highest rates in the country.

Avenini says that attracting companies like Spacex creates an incentive for other companies to move there. “When you have leaders in a specific industry in the state, it gives the impression that it is a center of activity,” she says. “It attracts attention from startups and others.”

Texas companies also benefit from the presence of a strong NASA in the state, which opens opportunities for commercial partnerships and access to federal contracts. In 2023, NASA was awarded 10 % of purchasing contracts, worth about $ 2.3 billion, to companies working in Texas: $ 53 million went to Boeing, and $ 18.9 million for KBR Wyle services in Houston; The agency also supported 2,997 federal employees and 17359 headquarters in Texas.

Here is how to storm the space industry in Texas

Like many government agencies, NASA faces deep discounts to finance them, especially for its scientific arm. In May, the White House issued a budget proposal that would reduce NASA by 24 %. Two months later, on July 10, the US Senate Credit Committee approved a bill to maintain the current levels of NASA, and rejected the proposed cuts. The draft law, which will form spending allocations in NASA for the year 2026, will move to the full Senate and the House of Representatives to consider it, and is scheduled to be completed later this year.

However, parts of NASA have found a postponement of the issuance of the “major and beautiful draft law” of the federal government, a budget settlement bill signed by President Donald Trump on July 4. The Space Agency is scheduled to receive $ 10 billion in financing over the next six years of the draft law, which includes allocations for the ARTEMIS moon and about $ 300 million for JSC promotions.

Casey Dryer, head of space policy at the Planetary Association, a space -defense organization based in Pasadina, California, says that the Trump budget in NASA would have abandoned the main components of Artemis, including the space launch system, Orion Crew -Crewcraft and Gateway Space Station. This had “great effects” on Texas – as well as cutting the numbers of employees through “more than 20 %” in JSC. However, the last “big and beautiful bill” is counter to this proposal and provides billions of dollars to these projects, as well as hundreds of millions of dollars for infrastructure and construction in JSC. “

In the commercial sector, there is likely to be a transformation in financing players in the adult industry while they scream at others, says Dryer. “In general, the commercial space industry maintains a lot of support in the White House proposal. But it is important to note that the commercial industry does not provide services for free: NASA is its customers, so any discounts in spending on companies in the private sector can also affect.”

When it comes to exploration of the country’s proposal to the moon and Mars, Dryer says that some companies – such as Spacex, or blue origin in Kent, Washington – can theory to deliver goods and crew to these targeted destinations. He adds and adds, but the capabilities are not yet present, and it will be a gambling of development without long -term government support.

New offers

Clen Dawsen, head of the Department of Engineering and Engineering in the field of aviation at the University of Texas in Austin, says the growth of the public sector, despite the discounts in the public sector, the growth of the public space sector in Texas “Asi” at the present time. This had an effect on academic circles.

“We have seen tremendous growth in applications on aviation programs,” he says. “Last year, we got about 2000 applicants for about 200 student openings,” indicating a shift in students’ priorities from previous years. “This year is closer to 3000 applicants.”

This increase in the request prompted the governor of Texas Greg Abbott to contact last March to more universities in the state to provide satellite engineering programs. Former spacecraft Nancy Cori-Greg, an engineer in Texas A & M, also on the Texas Space Committee’s board of directors, says TEXAS A & M binding company: It now provides a “specific program for bachelor’s degree and graduate space engineering.” “We expect the first students to start in 2026.” The new program will focus on the growing space industry in Texas, and will include an introduction to the space cycle that covers orbital mechanics and environmental control systems.

“There are a lot of grades programs, including here in Texas A & M, which focuses on things like payment and rescue – the things that take you to and from space – and even on the space environment, but this will be one of the first university grades that focus on the multidisciplinary engineering nature of what is happening once you get there.”

Currie-Gregg adds that the demand is already high in courses like this. “Every seat is filled” in space engineering courses, “she says. “I have 100 students in this semester, and everyone cannot enter the classroom.”