Governor Abbott creates leadership team to pitch Texas for permanent US Space Academy - LiveNOW from FOX

State Representative Greg Bonnen, a doctor from Friendswood who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, will lead the team. He'll work directly with the Texas Space Commission to build a proposal and send it to the federal government for consideration. The move follows an executive order President Donald Trump signed last month at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, which set up a Presidential Commission to pick where the academy will be located.

Right now the effort is centered in Houston, where Johnson Space Center already anchors much of the state's space industry. The competition is national, though, and Texas doesn't want to risk losing the academy to another state.

For people across Texas, including here in Lubbock, the outcome could shape how much of the country's future space training and workforce development stays inside state lines. A permanent academy would mean jobs, contracts, and prestige tied to the space program for decades.

Texas already claims deep roots in America's space history through Houston's mission control legacy. Now the state wants to make sure the next generation of astronauts trains here too.