Texas' space investment grows in Austin; company builds next gen satellite factory
Bee Cave, TX (KXAN) -- A new spacecraft factory is coming to Travis County after the company behind it, CesiumAstro, received a $10 million grant from the Texas Space Commission earlier this year.
The grant and others like it are part of Governor Greg Abbott’s push to expand the space industry in the Lone Star State.
CesiumAstro has built telecommunications equipment for eight years. The company, which got its start in the Hill County Galleria, will soon begin construction on "the most advanced satellite spacecraft factory in the world," according to CEO Shey Sabripour.
Element is a next gen telecommunications satellite designed by the company. Capable of providing communications services to remote areas around the world, the satellite will help the company expand from the Earth to deep space.
"We're entering a generation of connectivity that is very different to what we have been used to over the past century," said Sabripour.
The satellite has an array capable of directing service to a small area. The system can actually move, be shaped and even block service. Sabripour said that Element will open the door to providing internet to planes flying through the sky and soldiers out in the field, while also preventing enemies from using that same service.
"It's about connecting advanced robotics factories, the warfighter, to the source of the information in the most secure, resilient, low latency, high speed method possible," said Sabripour.
While the company has built components and systems for years, this new satellite will open the door for Cesium Astro to sell an entire satellite to groups like NASA and the Department of Defense.
"We grew out of Texas. We started the company in Texas," said Sabripour. Now the state is investing in the company and its growth.
Expanding the Texas space business
In 2023, the state legislature approved the creation of the Texas Space Commission (TSC). The group, led by a board appointed by the governor, is in charge of the distribution of $150 million in grants through the Space Exploration & Aeronautics Research Fund (SEARF).
In May, the TSC announced that Cesium Astro would see a grant of $10 million for the purpose of building the new satellite factory. Twenty-two other projects have also been approved.
"Approximately $126 million has been approved to date for those twenty-two projects, which leaves a balance of approximately $24 million available," said Norman Garza, Executive Director of the TSC.
In 2025, the legislature approved more funding for the TSC grant program.
"The legislature has sort of doubled down when it comes to what they'd like the space commission to do, because it went from $150 million in 2023 to $300 million in 2025," said Garza.
Garza said these programs vary. Some grants, which are provided over time and not in a lump sum, have gone to companies like CesiumAstro.
Others have gone to small communities across the state. Those grants are provided for feasibility studies to determine if these communities can support the space industry.
"I'm anxious to read what that report will ultimately indicate. Is the local community's interest for positioning themselves, over time, as a player when it comes to the space economy in Texas (viable)?" Garza said.
Greg Abbott and the space industry
Sabirpour said he's honored the state and the Texas Space Commission decided to invest in his company. A company that has grown from a handful of people to hundreds based in offices around the world.
"Governor Abbott and the team around him are passionate about growing the state economy and space is a huge economy. It's predicted to be a $1.5 trillion economy by 2035," Sabripour said.
The plan to launch the first Element satellite, built in Colorado while the new factory is under construction, in the summer of 2026.