San Antonio to Host 2026 Texas Space Summit

SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 20, 2025--

The Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and community leaders announced San Antonio as the host city for the 2026 Texas Space Summit, Sept. 21-23, 2026. Themed "Land Here, Go Beyond," the summit will highlight efforts to expand Texas' role in the commercial space economy and showcase how industry partners are strengthening the supply chain powering the nation's future in space.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251120996784/en/

Buyers, funders, policymakers and researchers from the U.S. Department of Defense, NASA and leading Texas-based space contractors, innovators and investors will explore live demonstrations and scale models of launch systems, satellites, robotics and life-support technologies. Immersive exhibits will bring space missions to life, including lunar bases and Mars simulations.

"The San Antonio region has a long history with aerospace, and we are excited to host the 2026 Texas Space Summit," said Jeff Webster, president and CEO of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce. "This gathering strengthens Texas' role in the commercial space economy and furthers the development of a supply chain that creates high-quality jobs and investments across our state."

As NASA plans to deorbit the International Space Station in 2030 and shift to commercially operated stations, the agency has invested more than $400 million and released a draft Phase 2 partnership announcement in September to advance commercial space development. The transition is fueling investments and opportunities across Texas and the United States.

“Texas has always been a frontier state—bold, visionary, and unafraid to reach for the stars,” said Adam Hamilton, CEO of Southwest Research Institute. “We’re proud to carry that spirit forward, leading groundbreaking space missions and developing technologies that expand humanity’s reach beyond Earth. The Texas Space Summit is a celebration of our state’s growing role as a global hub for space innovation, and we’re honored to help shape that future.”

The space economy could reach $1.8 trillion by 2035, with each dollar returning three to seven times its value to Texas through job creation and investments. The state is already home to major space organizations, including Blue Origin, SpaceX, NASA and Firefly Aerospace, employing more than 150,000 Texans.

"Texas' space economy isn't concentrated in one city, but throughout the entire state," said Gwen, Griffin, Texas Space Commission. "This summit showcases how we are using talent and infrastructure from across the state to lead the commercial space industry."

The Texas Space Commission has awarded more than $126 million to organizations advancing space operations and spaceflight in the state. The funding comes from the Space Exploration and Aeronautics Research fund, which the Texas Legislature appropriated $150 million to in 2023.

About the 2026 Texas Space Summit

The 2026 Texas Space Summit, taking place Sept. 21–23 in San Antonio, Texas, will bring together leaders from government, defense, academia, and industry to explore the future of space innovation and commercialization in Texas. The summit will feature keynote sessions, exhibitions and networking opportunities highlighting Texas’ leadership in the space sector. Visit www.texasspacesummit.com for details.

Texas leaders announce San Antonio as the host city for the 2026 Texas Space Summit on Nov. 18, 2025.

DETROIT (AP) — President Donald Trump will travel to Michigan on Tuesday to promote his efforts to boost U.S. manufacturing, trying to counter fears about a weakening job market and worries that still-rising prices are taking a toll on Americans' pocketbooks.

The day trip will include a tour of a Ford factory in Dearborn that makes F-150 pickups, the bestselling domestic vehicle in the U.S. The Republican president is also set to address the Detroit Economic Club at the MotorCity Casino.

November's off-year elections in Virginia, New Jersey and elsewhere showed a shift away from Republicans as public concerns about kitchen table issues persist. In their wake, the White House said Trump would put a greater emphasis on talking directly to the public about his economic policies after doing relatively few events around the country earlier in his term.

The president has suggested that jitters about affordability are a “hoax” unnecessarily stirred by Democrats. Still, though he's imposed steep tariffs on U.S. trading partners around the world, Trump has reduced some of them when it comes to making cars — including extending import levies on foreign-made auto parts until 2030.

Ford announced last month that it was scrapping plans to make an electric F-150, despite pouring billions of dollars into broader electrification, after the Trump administration slashed targets to have half of all new vehicle sales be electric by 2030, eliminated EV tax credits and proposed weakening the emissions and gas mileage rules.

Trump's Michigan swing follows economy-focused speeches he gave last month in Pennsylvania — where his gripes about immigrants arriving to the U.S. from “filthy” countries got more attention than his pledges to fight inflation — and North Carolina, where he insisted his tariffs have spurred the economy, despite residents noting the squeeze of higher prices.

Trump carried Michigan in 2016 and 2024, after it swung Democratic and backed Joe Biden in 2020. He marked his first 100 days in office with a rally-style April speech outside Detroit, where he focused more on past campaign grudges than his administration's economic or policy plans.

During that visit nearly nine months ago, Trump also spoke at Selfridge Air National Guard Base and announced a new fighter jet mission, allaying fears that the base could close. It represented a win for Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — and the two even shared a hug.

This time, Democrats have panned the president's trip, singling out national Republicans' opposition to extending health care subsidies and recalling a moment in October 2024 when Trump suggested that Democrats' retaining the White House would mean “our whole country will end up being like Detroit."

"You’re going to have a mess on your hands,” Trump said during a campaign stop back then.

Curtis Hertel, chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, said that “after spending months claiming that affordability was a ‘hoax’ and creating a health care crisis for Michiganders, Donald Trump is now coming to Detroit — a city he hates — to tout his billionaire-first agenda while working families suffer."

“Michiganders are feeling the effects of Trump’s economy every day,” Hertel said in a statement.

Weissert reported from Washington.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters while in flight on Air Force One to Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)