An Italian aerospace company that builds stratospheric balloon platforms has signed a lease and moved into its first U.S. office, setting up shop at Houston Spaceport with plans to launch its first commercial missions from the site by the end of 2026. Involve Space, founded in Como, Italy, in 2021, joins a growing roster of aerospace tenants at the Houston facility located near Ellington Airport.
The company has signed a lease and moved into its first U.S. office, according to fly2houston.com, which describes Involve Space as a developer of high-altitude balloon platforms for Earth observation, scientific research and hardware testing. The new U.S. office and launch base sits at 11602 Aerospace Avenue inside Houston Spaceport, per involvespace.eu, which states the company officially inaugurated its U.S. commercial office and launch base there. As CultureMap Houston reports, Jonathan Polotto said Houston is the global center of aerospace and that Involve Space's presence at the Spaceport strengthens the company's international growth trajectory.
A Balloon That Already Crossed Texas
Involve Space's path to Houston began in January 2025, when it completed its first U.S. pilot launch, according to the same fly2houston.com release. CultureMap Houston reports the pilot balloon mission lasted five hours, reached about 85,000 feet in altitude and traveled roughly 250 miles across Texas. Involvespace.eu describes the same flight somewhat differently, citing a five-hour flight across Texas covering about 400 kilometers and reaching an altitude of 26 kilometers.
The company combines aerospace hardware with artificial intelligence and geospatial tools, the fly2houston.com release notes, and its balloon platforms carry instruments into the stratosphere to collect images and data, conduct experiments and test technology, per CultureMap Houston. Involve Space's CLEAR platform uses conversational AI to help customers interpret data and support operational decisions, according to the station's report. The company's global headquarters, along with its core research, engineering, manufacturing and geo-intelligence development operations, will remain in Italy, involvespace.eu states.
A Biotech Partnership With a Houston Neighbor
Involve Space has also signed a deal with Rhodium Scientific, a Houston-based space biotech company, to conduct biotech experiments aboard its stratospheric balloon platforms ahead of planned missions to orbit, CultureMap Houston reports. Rhodium Scientific's own site describes a partnership with the Italian-based company to support the seamless integration of scientific experiments aboard its high-altitude balloon flight systems, according to rhodiumscientific.com. Olivia Gamez Holzhaus is founder and CEO of Rhodium Scientific, per the same report.
Fly2houston.com separately describes the arrangement as a memorandum of understanding to integrate and test biotechnology experiments aboard Involve Space's stratospheric platforms. Houston Spaceport provides a base for Involve Space's North American operations, business development and aerospace partnerships, according to houston.innovationmap.com. Jim Szczesniak said Involve's platforms strengthen the Spaceport's role in testing, validating and deploying advanced technologies between aeronautics and space, CultureMap Houston reports.
Joining an Expanding Aerospace Roster
Houston Spaceport's tenant list already includes NASA, Axiom Space, Venus Aerospace and Intuitive Machines, according to houston.innovationmap.com. Houston Spaceport's own figures, cited by fly2houston.com in a separate article, describe tenants including Axiom Space, Collins Aerospace and Intuitive Machines, with startups like Venus Aerospace further enriching the ecosystem. Those same tenants collectively hold more than $10 billion in contracts, including work with NASA, per fly2houston.com, though CultureMap Houston has separately reported the figure at about $5 billion in contracts with NASA and other notable aerospace companies.
The Houston Spaceport's first development phase was completed in 2019, CultureMap Houston notes, and Collins Aerospace opened a 120,000-square-foot facility there in 2022. Involve Space has built credibility through partnerships with IBM Quantum, Saab and Houston Spaceport, according to euspa.europa.eu, which also reports the company has completed more than 30 paid pilot missions and more than 100 engineering flights across three European test ranges.
Funding Fuels the Push Across the Atlantic
The Houston expansion follows a funding run that began with a €2 million seed round closed in September 2024, led by Earlybird Venture Capital, according to involvespace.eu. The company later announced it had strengthened its fundraising to a total of €3 million after securing €1 million through the Smart&Start Italia program. Involvespace.eu states the new capital will be used for further development of the company's Stratostats and Stratorelay platforms, including longer flight durations, improved AI control systems and greater payload capacity.
Involve Space's first commercial launches from the Houston Spaceport are scheduled for late 2026, the company said in its own announcement, a timeline that fly2houston.com's release also frames as the company's plan to launch its first commercial missions from Houston by the end of the year. Euspa.europa.eu adds that Involve plans a five-balloon LoonHive constellation by 2026, as the company's quantum-inspired qool division, launched in 2024, continues developing fleet-optimization technology alongside the balloon platforms.
