The Cedar Park City Council approved joining Williamson County in the Central Texas Spaceport Development Corporation.
CEDAR PARK, Texas — A Central Texas city has voted to become part of a localized aerospace organization.
On Thursday, the Cedar Park City Council approved a resolution to join the Central Texas Spaceport Development Corporation, along with Williamson County.
A Space Development Corporation (SDC) is often a nonprofit organization that aims to implement launch and landing facilities for rockets, spacecrafts and other devices. Williamson County was initially set to partner with Burnet County in creating the corporation, but Burnet County eventually halted progress.
The Central Texas SDC board would be made up of seven volunteer directors, four of which have already been chosen, according to the Austin Business Journal (ABJ).
What is Firefly Aerospace and where is it based?
Cedar Park is home to Firefly Aerospace, the first commercial operation to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon. The company’s Blue Ghost lunar lander launched in January from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, touching down on the moon’s surface on March 2.
Earlier this week, Firefly Aerospace officially went public on the stock market, enabling shares to be purchased through the symbol “FLY” on the Nasdaq for about $45 each.
Back in May, the company received a $50 million investment to develop a new rocket called Eclipse, set to launch from Virginia next year. Then in July, the organization was awarded more than $176 million through a NASA contract for a mission to the south pole.
While the company is headquartered in Cedar Park, it also operates various other space-related operations in Briggs, Texas; Santa Barbara, California; and Cape Canaveral, Florida.