WASHINGTON — A Texas state agency awarded $47.7 million in grants to five space companies to support projects like construction of facilities and development of spacecraft in the state.
The Texas Space Commission announced Feb. 10 that it awarded the grants to Blue Origin, Firefly Aerospace, Intuitive Machines, SpaceX and Starlab Space. The grants are part of the commission’s Space Exploration and Aeronautics Research Fund (SEARF) program.
“Today’s awards will support Texas companies as we grow commercial, military and civil aerospace activity across the state,” Gwen Griffin, chair of the board of the commission, said in a statement.
The commission as well as the SEARF program were established by legislation enacted in 2023 intended to support the growth of the state’s space industry. That included an appropriation of $150 mission for the SEARF program.
The press release did not disclose what projects the grants would fund at each company, and a commission spokesperson did not respond to questions about the awards. Brief details about the proposals were discussed during a short meeting of the commission’s board that approved the grants unanimously and without debate:
- Blue Origin: $7 million for upgrades to its booster engine testing facility to enable higher thrust for those engines through densified propellants.
- Firefly Aerospace: $8.2 million for expanded capabilities at its spacecraft development center, as well expanded internship and student access programs.
- Intuitive Machines: $10 million for development of a commercial orbital return vehicle.
- SpaceX: $7.5 million for a new vertical integration facility at Starbase for the company’s Starship/Super Heavy vehicle.
- Starlab Space: $15 million for a systems integration lab that could be used by multiple entities in the commercial space station field.
Neither the announcement nor the board meeting disclosed how they selected those projects for consideration. At a Jan. 24 meeting, the commission’s board said it received 284 grant requests from 140 organizations worth $3.46 billion for the $150 million of SEARF funding.
This was the second set of grants awarded by the commission for the SEARF program. It announced Jan. 24 four grants worth $21.5 million, with most of the funding going to an economic development organization called The Borderplex Alliance in El Paso for construction of a classified and unclassified office space for companies working with the Space Force’s Space Systems Command.
