As Houston continues to expand its role as a global center for innovation and investment, the Greater Houston Partnership and Rice University led a strategic trade mission to Paris, France, to elevate the region’s presence at Viva Technology (VivaTech) 2025, the largest technology and innovation summit in Europe.  With 180,000 international attendees, VivaTech offered direct access to global business leaders, policymakers and investors exploring high-growth markets. Houston’s activation sparked opportunities for potential partnerships and drew attention from notable leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and Vanessa Wyche, Acting Administrator of NASA.   “They see Houston as one of the cities of the future, and they’re backing that up with their resources and attention,” stated John Cypher, the Partnership’s Vice President of International Investment and Trade. “We saw a lot of potential for partnerships that could bring more international startups to Houston and connect founders to new European markets.”  Beyond VivaTech, the delegation met with key players in France’s innovation and finance sectors, including Banque Publique d’Investissement France, Mouvement des Entreprises de France, and Station F.   The week-long trade mission also highlighted Houston’s global academic leadership with a guided visit to Rice University’s Global Paris Center, the university’s first international campus. “It’s a remarkable moment where Rice shows the world that we are an entrepreneurial-, science- and engineering-based tech accelerator,” said Caroline Levander, Rice’s Vice President for Global Strategy. The center represents a broader vision to connect Houston’s educational and entrepreneurial resources to Europe’s innovation ecosystem. The mission culminated with a reception at the former embassy of the Republic of Texas, celebrating the enduring ties between Texas and France and reinforcing a shared commitment to innovation and growth.   Houston’s role at VivaTech 2025 highlights the city’s innovation and role as a major hub for foreign direct investment. Strengthening international business ties remains a significant part of our growing economy and a way to spur further investment and advance innovation for our region.   Learn more about Houston’s growing role in the global economy.  

Exploration Park, the groundbreaking 207-acre aerospace campus planned at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, is gaining momentum as it moves closer to construction. Houston-based KBR, a global leader in human spaceflight and aerospace services, will serve as one of the park’s anchor tenants, operating a 45,000-square-foot space food innovation facility focused on customized food systems, packaging and nutrition to support the growing low Earth orbit economy.   “Exploration Park is designed for companies in the space ecosystem, such as KBR, to develop, produce, and deploy innovative new technologies that support space exploration and commerce,” said Simon Shewmaker, Head of Development at ACMI Properties, the developer behind Exploration Park. “This project is moving expeditiously, and we’re thrilled to sign such an innovative partner in KBR, reflecting our shared commitment to building the essential infrastructure of tomorrow for the next generation of space innovators and explorers.”  Click to expand To help bring the campus to life, ACMI also announced the addition of key project partners: Griffin Partners will serve as co-developer, with Gensler leading design and Walter P Moore overseeing civil engineering.  About Exploration Park Exploration Park is designed to serve as a hub for commercial space innovation and human spaceflight, supporting missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. The project builds on Houston’s long-standing reputation as Space City and aims to cement the region’s role as a global leader in the space industry. “For more than 60 years, NASA Johnson has been the hub of human space exploration,” said NASA Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche in a statement. “This Space Systems Campus will be a significant component within our objectives for a robust and durable space economy that will benefit not only the nation’s efforts to explore the Moon, Mars and the asteroids, but all of humanity as the benefits of space exploration research roll home to Earth.”  Click to expand Once complete, the campus will feature at least 20 build-to-suit facilities that can accommodate at least 1.5 million square feet of space. It will support a range of uses including R&D, laboratories, clean rooms, office space and light manufacturing, and will serve key sectors such as aerospace, robotics, life support systems, advanced manufacturing and artificial intelligence. Click to expand At the center of the development is the $200 million Texas A&M Space Institute, funded by the Texas Space Commission. The institute, which broke ground last year, is designed to drive collaboration across academic, government and commercial sectors, while also serving as a pipeline for talent through robust workforce training programs.  What’s Next Construction on the first phase of Exploration Park is slated to begin later this year, with completion targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026. Discover more about Houston’s aerospace industry.