Regional leaders are set to gather at El Paso City Hall for a press conference previewing Space Tech El Paso 2026, a three-day conference running November 2 through November 4 that organizers say will bring together leaders from industry, government and academia to discuss the Borderplex's growing role in the space and aerospace sectors.
The 10 a.m. press conference will be jointly hosted by the Texas Space Coalition, the City of El Paso, El Paso County and the University of Texas at El Paso, according to KFOX. The outlet reports that conference programming is expected to include representatives from NASA, the U.S. Space Force, UTEP, national laboratories, aerospace companies, workforce organizations and economic development partners, with sessions exploring how regional capabilities in advanced manufacturing, research, workforce development and national security could support both commercial and national security space missions.
This marks the second year the Texas Space Coalition has brought its conference to El Paso. The inaugural Space Tech El Paso 2025 event ran as a two-day gathering at UTEP last November and featured NASA's White Sands Test Facility, the U.S. Space Force and Blue Origin, according to KVIA. The coalition plans a Space Tech Series stop in Midland in 2027 as part of a broader West Texas rollout, per the Texas Space Coalition.
County Dollars Behind the Push
El Paso County isn't just hosting this year's preview — it's paying to be part of the series. The El Paso County Commissioners Court authorized $20,000 in October 2025 to cover title sponsorship and a one-year Texas Space Coalition membership, according to Citizen Portal.
That local investment sits atop much larger state money already flowing into the region. The Texas Space Commission awarded an additional $19 million grant to the Borderplex Alliance in January 2025, the commission announced. The same month, El Paso County received an $800,000 grant to construct a Master Plan for a West Texas Aerospace Corridor spanning Interstate 10 and Interstate 20, a cross-county planning effort Hoodline previously reported.
UTEP's Research and Flight-Test Footprint
UTEP's own infrastructure has expanded in parallel. The university opened its $80 million Advanced Manufacturing and Aerospace Center in April 2025 to anchor regional research in spacecraft materials, propulsion and defense systems, providing hands-on technical training for students while hosting commercial defense partnerships, Hoodline reported at the time.
Then in February 2026, U.S. Representative Tony Gonzales and UTEP leaders announced a $2 million federal appropriation to expand drone and counter-unmanned aerial systems flight test ranges at the university's remote sites in Fabens and Tornillo, according to UTEP. The expansion supports research and teaching at the university, adding to UTEP's aerospace work.
A Statewide Strategy, With Workforce at Its Center
The El Paso push fits into a statewide effort that includes the Texas Space Commission, established in 2023.
Workforce development has become a central theme of that strategy. NASA selected the Texas Space Commission as a host for a $10.5 million NASA Aerospace Skilled Technical Workforce Hub, a program that creates the Texas Space STEM Alliance and a TAP+ portal connecting non-four-year technical students with aerospace jobs, per the UT Institute for Geophysics. Organizers of Space Tech El Paso have pointed to supply chain transition — helping traditional local manufacturers adapt to produce aerospace components — as a key goal of the conference series, per KVIA's reporting.
Military-connected leadership has also tied itself to the state's space ambitions. Texas Governor Greg Abbott appointed U.S. Space Force Col. Omar A. Perea to the Texas Aerospace and Aviation Advisory Committee in January, a move Hoodline covered at the time. The appointment reflects the kind of direct ties between El Paso's military space personnel and state policy decisions that regional leaders are expected to highlight again when they gather at City Hall to preview the conference beginning November 2.
