Houston: Ellington Airport’s project to serve spaceport, military
HOUSTON – The Houston Airport System (HAS) received a $3.1 million state grant to help build a new air traffic control tower at Ellington Airport, home of the city’s future spaceport.
The current tower was built in the 1950s and sustained damage during Hurricane Ike. Emergency repairs were made, but the tower is still vulnerable to further damages.
The new tower will be built adjacent to the current tower and is slated to open in early fall 2017, with construction beginning in the coming summer. The current tower will continue to operate in the meantime.
The entire project is expected to cost more than $7 million. The grant will go toward designing and constructing a utility building, utility yard and parking area, as well as the purchase of new navigational and communication equipment.
Once completed, the tower will support the Ellington Joint Reserve Base military, general aviation and the future spaceport that is making headway.
Houston’s spaceport recently gained a partnership from NASA. The five-year deal will allow NASA to provide safety training, engineering capabilities, operations support and other services to HAS as it develops the port.
HAS also gained approval in October to being work on the site of the system’s new incubator and co-working space.
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