Midland stellar deal with Orbital Outfitters

MIDLAND – Orbital Outfitters will receive nearly $7 million from the Midland Development Corporation (MDC) for relocating its equipment and constructing a headquarters that includes an altitude chamber complex.

The economic development agreement includes:

$2.2 million for headquarters construction;
$3.2 million for altitude chamber complex construction; and
$1.5 million for salaries and relocation of equipment and other materials.

The MDC will own the chamber complex, but Orbital Outfitters will manage it. The altitude chamber could have practical applications beyond the aerospace industry such as the medical and engineering industries.

Orbital Outfitters will be the second space company that the MDC has attracted to the area; the first is XCOR Aerospace.

The arrival of both companies come at a time when Midland International Airport nears its completion of a spaceport designation license from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The MDC has plans for one or two additional incentive deals with aerospace companies. As they have discovered from the past five or six years, targeting one industry is much easier than attempting to lure many industries at once.

California-based Orbital Outfitters specializes in space suits and vehicle mockups.

Read more at the Midland Reporter-Telegram and Orbital Outfitters.