Aerospace Companies in Midland

In late 2018, the MDC partnered with AST & Science to bring their corporate headquarters and satellite manufacturing facility to the MDC’s 85,000-square-foot facility at the Midland Spaceport Business Park. 

AST & Science is building the first and only cellular broadband network to be broadcast from space and accessible by standard smartphones. Called SpaceMobile, this innovative network will eliminate the connectivity gaps faced by today’s five billion mobile subscribers and finally bring broadband to the billions who remain unconnected.

Patented low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, integral to SpaceMobile, are being designed and manufactured at the Midland facility, as part of the company’s transformational technology. 

Chairman and CEO Abel Avellan said of their Midland location, “From Midland, we will scale up quickly to produce high volumes of low-cost, ultra-powerful LEO satellite platforms.” 

In early 2020, AST & Science announced Rakuten and Vodafone as strategic investors, bringing total capital raised to $128M. 

In the Fall of 2022, AST SpaceMobile successfully launches the BlueWalker 3, a satellite that was manufactured in Midland, Texas. In 2024, AST announced a series of additional partnerships with AT&T and Verizon that will continue to bring connectivity to more cell phone users.

Firehawk Aerospace is testing hybrid rocket engines in Midland using 3D-printed rocket fuel. Firehawk is located North of the Spaceport Business Park and is utilizing Midland’s wide, open spaces to test their technology. 

Firehawk is pioneering vertical launch possibilities in Midland and West Texas with a new vertical launch site and test range. This range will be used for hybrid rocket testing for Firehawk and other aerospace and defense companies.

Castelion Corporation is a modern defense company that came to Midland to test their rocket engines and propulsion systems. Castelion works to complete low-cost, high-cadence testing with incremental design improvements to deploy new capabilities faster. 

Castelion will be testing their rocket engines and propulsion systems North of the Spaceport Business Park. 

Space Nation came to Midland in 2022 and held their first Moon Pioneers Mission in 2024. Space Nation was founded with the goal of establishing communities beyond Earth and connecting people on Earth to the benefits of space. Space Nation’s Moon Pioneer Mission is one way that the company is connecting people on Earth to the benefits of space along with the connection between the moon and West Texas. Part of the mission includes a tour of the Midland Spaceport and the Midland Altitude Chamber Complex. 

The Midland Development Corporation and the MITRE Corporation formed a strategic partnership together at the beginning of 2024 for continued research for high-speed flight in Midland and the corresponding corridors. The MITRE Corporation is a leading airspace research center that will help advance the goals of Midland and the Midland Spaceport.

Leo Labs established the Midland Space Radar in 2017 and recently made technical upgrades in 2023. The Midland Space Radar is the first demonstration of Leo Labs hardware and software in a one-dimensional phased-array radar for space. The radar can track thousands of objects per hour, even debris as small as 10 centimeters in diameter. 

The Space Force Association (SFA) established its Texas headquarters in Midland bringing new opportunities through the gates at MAF. The SFA seeks to achieve superior national space power by shaping a Space Force that provides credible deterrence in competition, dominant capability in combat, and professional services for all partners.

Through a series of events and support, the SFA partners with Midland's aerospace and defense companies network. 

Astroport Space Technologies is developing technologies for lunar infrastructure construction using 3D printing and autonomous robotics with a focus on lunar landing pad emplacements.

Starfighters Space owns a fleet of F-104 fighter jets and is the only commercial fleet in the world. This active fleet enables Starfighters to be the only company in the world to fly at MACH 2 while launching payloads into space.

Starfighters also participates in supersonic testing and partners with a number of customers to further their launch capabilities.