The California Science Center has wrapped construction on its long-awaited Samuel Oschin Air & Space Center, bringing the retired space shuttle Endeavour one big step closer to its forever perch above Exposition Park. The stainless-steel-clad structure rises roughly 20 stories and adds about 200,000 square feet of galleries, nearly doubling the Science Center’s exhibit space. The project ran about $450 million, and museum leaders say they will name an opening date this summer, aiming to have doors open before the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Construction Wrapped, Clock Ticking Toward Summer Opening
According to the Los Angeles Times, the Samuel Oschin Air & Space Center is a 200,000-square-foot, 20-story expansion that anchors a $450 million fundraising campaign and will be carved into three main galleries: air, space and shuttle. The centerpiece will be Endeavour, lifted into a dramatic vertical "ready-to-launch" pose and surrounded by genuine hardware, including its solid rocket boosters and an external fuel tank.
Endeavour Stacked Under Cover of Night
The orbiter was hoisted and attached to its external tank and boosters in a tightly choreographed overnight operation in January 2024, AP News reported, after the heavy rocket motors were hauled to Exposition Park the previous year. Endeavour flew 25 missions between 1992 and 2011 and made its way to Los Angeles in 2012 atop a NASA 747, then inched through city streets in a slow, carefully planned procession. We first chronicled the crane lift and early stacking in our earlier dispatch on Endeavour’s dramatic last “lift-off”.
Design Lifts the Roof, Clears the View
Architects at ZGF wrapped the shuttle hall in a stainless-steel diagrid, a lattice of diagonally intersecting steel beams, to create a column-free interior that lets visitors take in unobstructed views of the full shuttle stack, as described in the center’s architectural fact sheet. Plans call for multiple observation platforms, a gantry that will lift guests nearly 200 feet for overhead views, and a 45-foot slide that shoots visitors back down to the gallery floor, features the museum says are meant to evoke the feeling of a launch pad. “But it’s better than we ever dreamed,” Science Center president Jeffrey Rudolph said as the project neared completion, according to the center’s press materials.
Crews Shift From Concrete To Cosmos
With the shell done and Endeavour stacked, crews are now focused on outfitting the galleries and installing artifacts around the towering orbiter. Contractor MATT Construction and engineering partner Arup handled the intricate sequencing that allowed the building to rise around the shuttle while it stayed on site. State project and financing documents show artifacts and exhibit fittings were scheduled for installation through spring 2026 while teams finished interior systems and exhibit buildout. Once inspections are done and the last display case is in place, museum officials plan to lock in a public opening date and release ticketing and program details.
What Angelenos Will Get For The Wait
The Samuel Oschin center will plug into Exposition Park’s already stacked cultural corridor, joining the Natural History Museum and the Coliseum as a marquee draw for school field trips, neighborhood families and the wave of visitors headed for upcoming mega-events in Los Angeles. Its vertical, launch-style display of a flown orbiter is a one-of-a-kind museum presentation that puts a piece of NASA history, once accessible only at government facilities, squarely in front of local audiences. When the Science Center announces its opening date this summer, officials say they will also roll out details on school programming, special exhibitions and any timed-entry reservations that might be needed to manage the crowds.
