Governor Greg Abbott created a leadership team to press Texas’ case as the permanent home of the United States Space Academy, naming state Rep. Greg Bonnen, M.D., of Friendswood, chair of the House Appropriations Committee, to lead it, his office said in a Sept. 15 news release.
The effort responds to a federal process now underway. According to the release, President Donald J. Trump last month signed an executive order at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston establishing a Presidential Commission on the United States Space Academy, which will recommend a permanent location. The Texas team will work with the Texas Space Commission to prepare a statewide proposal and present it to the federal government.
“Texas is the home of America’s human spaceflight program,” Abbott said. “No state can match what Texas brings to this mission. NASA’s Johnson Space Center, world-class universities, a premier commercial space industry, major military installations, and an unmatched aerospace workforce give Texas every asset the United States Space Academy requires.”
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said the state’s private-sector growth and research institutions “will provide cadets and faculty with the perfect platform to launch America’s new space academy.” House Speaker Dustin Burrows said Texas is home to 15 military installations and top research universities and is “equipped with the experts and workforce needed to launch this Academy.”
Texas Space Commission Chair Gwen Griffin said the commission is honored to support the initiative and looks forward to working with Bonnen and the leadership team “to demonstrate why Texas is the right place to train the next generation of American space leaders.”
The release said the team also includes Dr. Nancy Currie-Gregg, director of the Texas A&M Space Institute, a retired Army colonel and former NASA astronaut; Dr. Heather Wilson, president of The University of Texas at El Paso and former secretary of the U.S. Air Force; Evan Loomis of the Texas Space Commission board; Dr. Robert Ambrose, associate director of the Texas A&M Space Institute; Jack Fischer, senior vice president at Intuitive Machines, a retired Air Force colonel and former NASA astronaut; and Dr. Lori A. Magruder, director of the University of Texas at Austin Center for Space Research.
The state’s pitch rests on assets already in place, the governor’s office said, citing major military installations, a deep aerospace workforce and a commercial space industry that builds, launches and operates space systems. The Presidential Commission has not announced a timeline for its recommendation.