Bay Area Edition | March 2026

Development

BY HALEY VELASCO

First building at NASA’s Exploration Park on time to open in fall 2026

A closer look

The project will cost $200 million. The funding comes from a $350 million package for space programs approved in the 2023 Texas Legislature, which also created the Texas Space Commission. The package included $200 million for the institute, according to university documents. The institute will be a 400,000-square-foot, four-level facility, documents show. While details about the fourth oor were not disclosed, the institute will include the following: • Level 1: Moon and Mars surface simulation, secured research garages and common technical support areas • Level 2: Garage mezzanines with collabora- tion spaces and pre-function space for the Level 3 auditorium • Level 3: lecture and instructional audito- rium, and exible projects rooms, including labs, classrooms and oce spaces

Construction remains on schedule for the new Texas A&M Space Institute, Director Nancy Currie-Gregg said in an email Feb. 18. The institute will be the rst building in NASA’s new Exploration Park, which is a 240-acre commercial property with space-related goals neighboring the NASA Johnson Space Center. The institute will serve as a resource for researchers to explore beyond the lower Earth orbit, back to the moon and on to Mars, according to documents from Texas A&M University. To date, the institute has signed leases with U.S.-based robotics company Venturi Astrolab, which develops lunar rovers to operate on the moon’s surface, and Houston-based aerospace company Intuitive Machines, which builds lunar landers and

space systems for NASA. Since the new institute broke ground in November 2024, “signicant progress has been made,” Currie-Gregg said. This includes: • All concrete work • Installation of metal wall panels on the moon and Mars scapes • Completion of the primary steel structures

NASA Johnson Space Center

Exploration Park

Texas A&M Space Institute

SOURCE:TEXAS A&MCOMMUNITY IMPACT

Looking ahead

The institute it slated to open in October, university documents note. “One of the primary objectives for the Texas A&M University Space Institute is to engage with universities, commercial entities and government entities in space research,” Currie-Gregg said. “The idea is to be a vibrant collaboration hub for space research in the state of Texas.”

The rst oor will simulate moon and Mars surfaces.

Rover build spaces will be located on the rst oor.

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