Texas is planning to make a huge public investment in space

Everything is bigger in Texas, or so the saying goes. When it comes to investing in commercial space, it just might be true.

As part of the state's biennial budget process, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has called on the state legislature to provide $350 million to create and fund a Texas Space Commission for the next two years.

"With companies seeking to expand space travel in coming years, continued development of the space industry in the state will ensure Texas remains at the forefront not only in the United States, but the entire world," Abbott stated in his budget document for the 88th Legislature. "Further investment will cement Texas as the preeminent location for innovation and development in this rapidly growing industry. Due to increased competition from other states and internationally, further planning and coordination is needed to keep Texas at the cutting edge."

Cowboys with cash

Texas has a historic budget surplus this year due to oil prices, inflation, and other factors driving economic growth. The state is projected to have $188.2 billion available in general revenue for funding the business of the state over the 2024–2025 period, a surplus of $32.7 billion over spending during the previous two years.

In their initial drafts, both the House and the Senate budget bills for this legislative session include the full $350 million in funding for a space commission. The initiative is being led by the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, Texas Rep. Greg Bonnen, whose district just south of Houston is adjacent to NASA's Johnson Space Center. A source said the bill "has all of the support it needs to pass" from leaders in both the House and Senate.

Bonnen's office did not specify what the Texas Space Commission will address, including how the money would be spent. A second source in the Texas Legislature told Ars that details about the commission's funding priorities were expected to be worked out later in the legislative session, which ends on May 29.

However, the framework for the proposed space commission appears to have been prepared by a Houston-based workforce-development organization called TexSpace, which published an annual report in December calling for the creation of such a commission.

According to this document, the commission would "focus on policy and arranging statewide strategy by monitoring local, state, and federal policies and opportunities and establishing an economic ecosystem for Texas' space enterprises." It would include 15 members, including those appointed by political officials, as well as an appointee each from SpaceX and Blue Origin.

Both of these companies have a sizable presence in the state with spaceports and large workforces, each dating back nearly two decades. SpaceX founder Elon Musk, in particular, has been attracted to the state in recent years due to its wide-open spaces, low taxes, and lenient regulatory environment. SpaceX has built a massive launch facility in South Texas, as well as large factories to produce Raptor engines and Starlink satellites in the state. This is in addition to an expansive rocket test facility in McGregor that SpaceX acquired in 2002.

Blue Origin, by contrast, has looked elsewhere of late. When it sought to build a large factory for its BE-4 rocket engines a few years ago, a spaceport in Houston was a finalist, but the region lost out to Northern Alabama. At the time, according to one Blue Origin official, Alabama showed much more interest and determination in landing the rocket engine factory.

The commission will likely seek to ensure that SpaceX and Blue Origin continue to grow their presence in the state and to nurture other, smaller startups.

One-upping Florida

This would be an extremely large state investment in the commercial space industry. The present leader in such activities is Florida, where the Space Florida promotional organization has supported myriad commercial space activities around its space coast and launch industry. Compared to the Texas proposal, Space Florida has a modest annual budget of $12.5 million.

"Florida leaders made the brilliant decision to invest in the commercial space industry years ago, and that investment has paid off," Anna Alexopoulos Farrar, a vice president of communications for Space Florida, told Ars. "Space Florida alone had a $5.9 billion economic impact on the state over the past 15 years, and we project a $1.1 billion impact every year starting this year. It’s not surprising that other states want to emulate our proven model, and we welcome the challenge from our friends in Texas—competition yields the best outcomes for both businesses and taxpayers."

The proposed commission plays into a political rivalry between Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Both Republicans may run for president during the 2024 election, and they have been engaging in one-upmanship during the last year or two. Much of this tit-for-tat activity has involved social issues and immigration, but both governors like to brag about their states being business-friendly as well. Such an investment in Texas commercial space may provoke a response in Florida.