Global summit spotlights Houston's growing role in brain health, innovation

where to be

The Texas Brain Economy Summit will be June 9-10 at Helix Park. Photo via braincapitalhtx.com.

The Center for Houston’s Future and UTMB are bringing the Texas Brain Economy Summit back to Houston this summer to continue to position the region as a global leader in brain health.

The summit, held June 9-10 at the Texas Medical Center's Helix Park, will bring together more than 500 executives, researchers, policymakers and innovators from around the world to discuss the global brain economy.

Attendees can expect to hear from leaders of global institutions, including the World Economic Forum, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, McKinsey Health Institute, Global Brain Economy Initiative, Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative, Business Collaborative for Brain Health (UsAgainstAlzheimer’s), Rice University, Memorial Hermann, MD Anderson and many others.

Day 1 of the conference will focus on "Enabling Human Flourishing & Economic Growth." Day 2 will focus on "Scaling Innovation & AI Solutions in the Brain Economy."

Keynotes will be delivered by:

  • Lexi Branson, vice president of health policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
  • Kana Enomoto, director of the McKinsey Health Institute
  • Megan Henshall, founder of Google Experience Institute (Xi)
  • Ryan Howard, co-lead of Google Experience Institute (Xi)
  • Dr. Hani Jneid, John Sealy Distinguished Centennial Chair in Cardiology and vice president of cardiovascular operations at UTMB
  • Steve Kean, president and CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership
  • Dan Patrick, Lieutenant Governor of Texas
  • Jochen Reiser, president of UTMB
  • Thomas Seitz, senior partner of the McKinsey Health Institute

Other significant speakers include:

  • Rym Ayadi, founder and president of the Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association (EMEA) and co-founder of the Brain Capital Alliance
  • Arthur Evans, CEO and executive vice president of the American Psychological Association
  • David Gow, president and CEO of the Center for Houston’s Future (Gow is the founder and chairman of Gow Media, InnovationMap's parent company)
  • Bill McKeon, president and CEO of the Texas Medical Center
  • Jeff Merritt, head of urban transformation at the World Economic Forum
  • Joanne Pike, president and CEO of the Alzheimer’s Association
  • George Vradenburg, founding chairman of Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative and co-founder, chairman and CEO of Us Against Alzheimer’s

The event is supported through Project Metis, which was launched by the Center for Houston’s Future last year. Led by Rice Brain Institute, The University of Texas Medical Branch's Moody Brain Health Institute and Memorial Hermann’s comprehensive neurology care department, the initiative aims to advance the understanding, prevention and treatment of the brain. It was developed on the heels of Texas voters overwhelmingly approving a ballot measure to launch the $3 billion, state-funded Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (DPRIT).

“Texas voters, by approving the state-funded Dementia Prevention Institute, have shown a strong commitment to brain health, as scientific advances continue daily. [Project Metis] aims to harness the Houston region’s unique strengths: its concentration of leading medical and academic institutions, a vibrant innovation ecosystem, and a history of entrepreneurial leadership in health and life sciences,” Gow said at the time.

Learn more about The Texas Brain Economy Summit and purchase tickets here.

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The TMC's William McKeon and San Jacinto College's Brenda Hellyer signed a memorandum of understanding on April 14. Photo courtesy TMC

New TMC partnership aims to grow Houston’s biomanufacturing workforce

workforce partnership

Houston is a frontrunner in the race to introduce and manufacture advanced therapeutics to the medical world. A new agreement between the Texas Medical Center (TMC) and San Jacinto College (SJC) aims to speed more experts and their technologies towards the finish line.

Earlier this month, the world's largest medical center and the nation’s second-ranked community college announced their new partnership that will set students on a path towards careers not only in life sciences in general, but also in pharmaceutical and biomanufacturing specifically.

SJC already has programs in those majors—its first graduates are now joining the workforce—but working with TMC will help the college recruit new students, as well as aid in enrollment and participation. Thanks to this collaboration, SJC students will benefit from more experiential learning and be able to transition more smoothly into the next steps in their training.

“Houston is a premier global hub for life sciences and biotechnology, and the talent we need to advance therapeutic drugs, diagnostics, and cell and gene therapy is already here,” William McKeon, the TMC’s president and CEO, said in a news release. “With more companies choosing to establish their headquarters in Houston and the daily breakthroughs happening across the TMC campus, partnering with San Jacinto College is an important step toward sustaining that momentum and unlocking even greater innovation and growth through the promising talent that already exists within our state.”

The partnership is currently slated to last two years, but the institutions have the option to extend after that.

For students, their journey to becoming scientists will likely start with Biopath @ TMC, a program that introduces high school students to biomanufacturing careers and what it takes to pursue one. Since its inception two years ago, the program has worked with more than 2,000 students around Harris County.

“This partnership exemplifies San Jacinto College’s ability to design and deliver programs that align with current workforce demands while opening doors for untapped talent across the Houston region,” Brenda Hellyer, SJC chancellor, said in the release. “TMC is a key industry leader in our region, and San Jacinto College has a unique global curriculum that provides the foundation and skills required for students to succeed and graduates to thrive in meaningful careers that will contribute to the innovation and advancement of the life sciences.”

Thanks to this new collaboration, more of Houston’s biomanufacturing workforce will soon be locally grown.

$50 million for Houston ibogaine research tops innovation news to know

News to know

Editor's note: The Houston innovation scene is entering 2026 with fresh funding for startups and major grants for innovative health treatments and neurological research. Here are the five most-read InnovationMap stories to start the new year, published Jan. 1-15, 2026:

1. Houston hospitals win $50M grant for ibogaine addiction treatment research

UTHealth Houston and UTMB will lead IMPACT, an initiative working toward ibogaine-based treatments for addiction and neurological issues. Photo via Pexels.

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission has awarded $50 million to UTHealth Houston in collaboration with The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB Health) to co-lead a multicenter research trial to evaluate the effect of ibogaine, a powerful psychoactive compound, on patients suffering from addiction, traumatic brain injury and other behavioral health conditions. The funding will establish a two-year initiative—known as Ibogaine Medicine for PTSD, Addiction, and Cognitive Trauma (IMPACT)—and a consortium of Texas health institutions focused on clinical trials and working toward potential FDA-approved treatments. Continue reading.

2. Rice scientist earns $600K NSF award to study distractions in digital age

Kirsten Adam, a Rice psychologist, is studying how the brain refocuses in the age of screens, instant gratification and other lingering distractions. Photo via Pexels.

Rice University psychologist Kirsten Adam has received a $600,000 National Science Foundation CAREER Award to research how visual distractions like phone notifications, flashing alerts, crowded screens and busy workspaces can negatively impact focus—and how the brain works to try to regain it. Adam’s work will aim to clarify how the brain refocuses in the age of screens, instant gratification and other lingering distractions. The funding will also be used to train graduate students in advanced cognitive neuroscience methods, expand access to electroencephalography (EEG) and for public data sharing. Continue reading.

3. TMC launches new biotech partnership with Republic of Korea

The Texas Medical Center and KBIOHealth have launched the TMC Republic of Korea BioBridge. Photo via LinkedIn.

Houston's Texas Medical Center has launched its new TMC Republic of Korea BioBridge. The new partnership brings together the TMC with the Osong Medical Innovation Foundation, or KBIOHealth. The Biobridge aims to support the commercialization of Korean biotech and life science startups in the U.S., foster clinical research, and boost collaboration in the public, private and academic sectors. Continue reading.

4. CPRIT CEO: Houston’s $2B in funding is transforming cancer research and prevention

Kristen Doyle, CEO of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). Photo courtesy CPRIT.

With its plethora of prestigious health care organizations like the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, UTHealth Houston, and the Baylor College of Medicine, Houston sits at the heart of cancer research and prevention in Texas. Of course, it takes piles of cash to support Houston’s status as the state’s hub for cancer research and prevention. Much of that money comes from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). Data supplied by CPRIT shows organizations in Harris County gained $2.3 billion in institute funding from 2009 through 2025, or nearly $145 million per year. That represents almost 60 percent of the roughly $4 billion that CPRIT has granted to Texas institutions over a 16-year period. Continue reading.

5. 14 Houston startups starting 2026 with fresh funding

From groundbreaking energy leaders to growing space startups, here's who secured funding in the last six months of 2025. Photo via Getty Images

Houston startups closed out the last half of 2025 with major funding news. Here are 14 Houston companies—from groundbreaking energy leaders to growing space startups—that secured funding in the last six months of the year, according to reporting by InnovationMap and our sister site EnergyCapitalHTX.com. Continue reading.

Eight Houston scientists and clinicians have been awarded the Rice Brain Institute's first seed grants. Photo via Getty Images.

New Rice Brain Institute partners with TMC to award inaugural grants

brain trust

The recently founded Rice Brain Institute has named the first four projects to receive research awards through the Rice and TMC Neuro Collaboration Seed Grant Program.

The new grant program brings together Rice faculty with clinicians and scientists at The University of Texas Medical Branch, Baylor College of Medicine, UTHealth Houston and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The program will support pilot projects that address neurological disease, mental health and brain injury.

The first round of awards was selected from a competitive pool of 40 proposals, and will support projects that reflect Rice Brain Institute’s research agenda.

“These awards are meant to help teams test bold ideas and build the collaborations needed to sustain long-term research programs in brain health,” Behnaam Aazhang, Rice Brain Institute director and co-director of the Rice Neuroengineering Initiative, said in a news release.

The seed funding has been awarded to the following principal investigators:

  • Kevin McHugh, associate professor of bioengineering and chemistry at Rice, and Peter Kan, professor and chair of neurosurgery at the UTMB. McHugh and Kan are developing an injectable material designed to seal off fragile, abnormal blood vessels that can cause life-threatening bleeding in the brain.
  • Jerzy Szablowski, assistant professor of bioengineering at Rice, and Jochen Meyer, assistant professor of neurology at Baylor. Szablowski and Meyer are leading a nonsurgical, ultrasound approach to deliver gene-based therapies to deep brain regions involved in seizures to control epilepsy without implanted electrodes or invasive procedures.
  • Juliane Sempionatto, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Rice, and Aaron Gusdon, associate professor of neurosurgery at UTHealth Houston. Sempionatto and Gusdon are leading efforts to create a blood test that can identify patients at high risk for delayed brain injury following aneurysm-related hemorrhage, which could lead to earlier intervention and improved outcomes.
  • Christina Tringides, assistant professor of materials science and nanoengineering at Rice, and Sujit Prabhu, professor of neurosurgery at MD Anderson, who are working to reduce the risk of long-term speech and language impairment during brain tumor removal by combining advanced brain recordings, imaging and noninvasive stimulation.

The grants were facilitated by Rice’s Educational and Research Initiatives for Collaborative Health (ENRICH) Office. Rice says that the unique split-funding model of these grants could help structure future collaborations between the university and the TMC.

The Rice Brain Institute launched this fall and aims to use engineering, natural sciences and social sciences to research the brain and reduce the burden of neurodegenerative, neurodevelopmental and mental health disorders. Last month, the university's Shepherd School of Music also launched the Music, Mind and Body Lab, an interdisciplinary hub that brings artists and scientists together to study the "intersection of the arts, neuroscience and the medical humanities." Read more here.

Here are the 10 biggest Houston health tech stories of the year. Photo courtesy JLABS.

Innovative Houston research leads our top health tech news of 2025

year in review

Editor's note: As 2025 comes to a close, we're looking back at the stories that defined Houston innovation this year. The Bayou City continued to grow as a health tech hub, bringing in a multibillion-dollar pharmaceutical development, playing home based to startups developing innovative treatment options and attracting leading researchers and professionals to the city. Here are the 10 most-read Houston health tech stories of the year:

Houston Nobel Prize nominee earns latest award for public health research

Dr. Peter Hotez with Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi. Photo courtesy of TMC

Houston vaccine scientist Dr. Peter Hotez is no stranger to impressive laurels. In 2022, he was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his low-cost COVID vaccine.

His first big win of 2025 was this year’s Hill Prize, awarded by the Texas Academy of Medicine, Engineering, Science and Technology (TAMEST). Hotez and his team were selected to receive $500,000 from Lyda Hill Philanthropies to help fund The Texas Virosphere Project, which aims to create a predictive disease atlas relating to climate disasters. Rice University researchers are collaborating with Hotez and his team on a project that combines climate science and metagenomics to access 3,000 insect genomes. The goal is to aid health departments in controlling disease and informing policy. Continue reading.

U.S. News ranks Houston hospital No. 1 in Texas for 14th year in a row

Houston Methodist is once again the top hospital in Texas. Photo via Houston Methodist

U.S. News & World Report's 2025 rankings of the best hospitals in Texas prove that Houston is in good hands.

The esteemed Houston Methodist Hospital was rated the No. 1 best hospital in Texas for the 14th consecutive year, and the No. 1 hospital in the metro area. Eleven more Houston-area hospitals earned spots among the statewide top 35. Continue reading.

Eli Lilly to build $6.5B pharmaceutical factory at Generation Park

Eli Lilly is expected to bring a $6.5 billion manufacturing facility to Houston by 2030. Rendering courtesy Greater Houston Partnership.

Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co. plans to build a $6.5 billion manufacturing plant at Houston’s Generation Park. More than 300 locations in the U.S. competed for the factory.

The Houston site will be the first major pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Texas, according to the Greater Houston Partnership. Lilly said it plans to hire 615 full-time workers for the 236-acre plant, including engineers, scientists and lab technicians. The company will collaborate with local colleges and universities to help build its talent pipeline. Continue reading.

How a Houston company is fighting anxiety, insomnia & Alzheimer’s through waveforms

Nexalin develops non-invasive devices that help reset networks in the brain associated with symptoms of anxiety and insomnia. Photo via Getty Images.

Houston-based Nexalin Technology is taking a medicine-free approach to target brain neurologically associated with mental illness. The company's patented, FDA-cleared frequency-based waveform targets key centers of the midbrain. Delivered via a non-invasive device, the treatment gently stimulates the hypothalamus and midbrain, helping to “reset networks associated with symptoms” of anxiety and insomnia.

Nexalin’s proprietary neurostimulation device moved forward with a clinical trial that evaluated its treatment of anxiety disorders and chronic insomnia in Brazil this year and enrolled the first patients in its clinical trial at the University of California, San Diego. Continue reading.

Houston doctor aims to revolutionize hearing aid industry with tiny implant

Houston Methodist's Dr. Ron Moses has created NanoEar, which he calls “the world’s smallest hearing aid.” Photo via Getty Images.

“What is the future of hearing aids?” That’s the question that led to a potential revolution.

Dr. Ron Moses, an ENT specialist and surgeon at Houston Methodist, is the creator of NanoEar, which he calls “the world’s smallest hearing aid.” NanoEar is an implantable device that combines the invisibility of a micro-sized tympanostomy tube with more power—and a superior hearing experience—than the best behind-the-ear hearing aid. Continue reading.

Houston scores $120M in new cancer research and prevention grants

The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas doled out 73 more grants to health care systems and companies in the state in November. Carter Smith/Courtesy of MD Anderson

The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas granted more than $120 million to Houston organizations and companies as part of 73 new awards issued statewide this fall. The funds are part of nearly $154 million approved by the CPRIT's governing board, bringing the organization's total investment in cancer prevention and research to more than $4 billion since its inception. A portion of the funding will go toward recruiting leading cancer researchers to Houston. Continue reading.

Digital Health Institute's new exec director aims to lead innovation and commercialization efforts

Pothik Chatterjee was named executive director of Rice University's and Houston Methodist's Digital Health Institute, effective May 1. Photo courtesy Rice University.

The Digital Health Institute, a joint venture between Rice University and Houston Methodist, appointed Pothik Chatterjee to the role of executive director this summer. Chatterjee’s role is to help grow the collaboration between the institutions, but the Digital Health Institute already boasts more than 20 active projects, each of which pairs Rice faculty and Houston Methodist clinicians. Once the research is in place, it’s up to Chatterjee to find commercial opportunities within the research portfolio. Those include everything from hospital-grade medical imaging wearables to the creation of digital twins for patients to help better treat them. Continue reading.

Innovation Labs @ TMC set to launch for early-stage life science startups

Innovation Labs @ TMC will open next year at the TMC Innovation Factory. Photo courtesy JLABS.

The Texas Medical Center announced its plans to launch its new Innovation Labs @ TMC in January 2026 to better support life science startups working within the innovation hub. The 34,000-square-foot space, located in the TMC Innovation Factory at 2450 Holcombe Blvd., will feature labs and life science offices and will be managed by TMC. The expansion will allow TMC to "open its doors to a wider range of life science visionaries." Continue reading.

6 Houston health tech startups making major advancements right now

Tatiana Fofanova and Dr. Desh Mohan, founders of Koda Health. Photo courtesy Koda Health.

The Health Tech Business category in our 2025 Houston Innovation Awards honored innovative startups within the health and medical technology sectors. Six forward-thinking businesses were named finalists for the 2025 award, ranging from an end-of-life care company to others developing devices and systems for heart monitoring, sleep apnea, hearing loss and more. Continue reading or see who won here.

Houston students develop cost-effective glove to treat Parkinson's symptoms

Rice University students Emmie Casey and Tomi Kuye used smartphone motors to develop a vibrotactile glove. Photo by Gustavo Raskosky/ Courtesy Rice University.

Two Rice undergraduate engineering students have developed a non-invasive vibrotactile glove that aims to alleviate the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease through therapeutic vibrations. Emmie Casey and Tomi Kuye developed the project with support from the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen (OEDK). The team based the design on research from the Peter Tass Lab at Stanford University, which explored how randomized vibratory stimuli delivered to the fingertips could help rewire misfiring neurons in the brain—a key component of Parkinson’s disease. Continue reading.

A new partnership will allow Memorial Hermann employees and physicians to participate in the TMC Center for Device Innovation. Photo via tmc.edu

TMC, Memorial Hermann launch partnership to spur new patient care technologies

medtech partnership

Texas Medical Center and Memorial Hermann Health System have launched a new collaboration for developing patient care technology.

Through the partnership, Memorial Hermann employees and physicians will now be able to participate in the TMC Center for Device Innovation (CDI), which will assist them in translating product innovation ideas into working prototypes. The first group of entrepreneurs will pitch their innovations in early 2026, according to a release from TMC.

“Memorial Hermann is excited to launch this new partnership with the TMC CDI,” Ini Ekiko Thomas, vice president of information technology at Memorial Hermann, said in the news release. “As we continue to grow (a) culture of innovation, we look forward to supporting our employees, affiliated physicians and providers in new ways.”

Mentors from Memorial Hermann, TMC Innovation and industry experts with specialties in medicine, regulatory strategy, reimbursement planning and investor readiness will assist with the program. The innovators will also gain access to support systems like product innovation and translation strategy, get dedicated engineering and machinist resources and personal workbench space at the CDI.

“The prototyping facilities and opportunities at TMC are world-class and globally recognized, attracting innovators from around the world to advance their technologies,” Tom Luby, chief innovation officer at TMC Innovation Factor, said in the release.

Memorial Hermann says the partnership will support its innovation hub’s “pilot and scale approach” and hopes that it will extend the hub’s impact in “supporting researchers, clinicians and staff in developing patentable, commercially viable products.”

“We are excited to expand our partnership with Memorial Hermann and open the doors of our Center for Device Innovation to their employees and physicians—already among the best in medical care,” Luby added in the release. “We look forward to seeing what they accomplish next, utilizing our labs and gaining insights from top leaders across our campus.”

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Report: Houston reclaims top 10 ranking among America's best cities

Houston has made a triumphant return to America's 10 best cities for 2026, certifying the city is a cornerstone of the country's growth and economic prosperity.

Houston ranks No. 9 nationwide in the annual "America's Best Cities" report from Canada-based real estate and tourism marketing firm Resonance Consultancy. Each year, the report ranks the relative qualities of livability, cultural "lovability," and economic prosperity in 393 American cities with metropolitan populations of 500,000 or more.

Dallas surpassed H-Town as the No. 8 best city in America, and the Lone Star State boasts a strong presence among the top 25. Austin and San Antonio, respectively, were named the 11th and 24th best American cities this year.

Previously, Houston was dubbed the 13th best American city in 2025, down from its No. 10 ranking in the 2024 report.

Rather than profiling each individual city like in past reports, the 2026 edition focuses on regional and state prosperity. Texas' economic dominance is second only to Florida's, and the state's growth is solidified by the Dallas-Houston-Austin "triangle," where each metro has its own distinct economic identity, but when combined "form one of the most formidable regional economies in the world."

"In our 2026 survey, Dallas ranks third nationally as the place Americans believe offers the best job opportunities, Austin fifth, and Houston seventh," the report's author wrote. "That concentration of perceived economic opportunity in a single state is unmatched, and the GDP data confirms it isn’t just perception."

After being named one of the best places to start a business or a career earlier in 2026, Houston has continued to punch above its weight with its success in tourism, education, and housing growth.

Overall, the report found a correlation between a city's population growth and its latest ranking, with bigger cities appearing higher up on the list. The top three best American cities — New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago — are coincidentally the three largest metros, while Dallas and Houston are the fourth and fifth largest but appear eighth and ninth on the list.

"Scale compounds at the large city level — more people generate more economic activity, more cultural infrastructure, more employer presence, which attracts more people," the report said.

The top 10 best cities in America for 2026 are:

  • No. 1 – New York
  • No. 2 – Los Angeles
  • No. 3 – Chicago
  • No. 4 – Miami
  • No. 5 – San Francisco
  • No. 6 – Seattle
  • No. 7 – Las Vegas
  • No. 8 – Dallas
  • No. 9 – Houston
  • No. 10 – Boston

New probe into Tesla after vehicle slams into Houston-area home at high speed

Tesla Talk

The top U.S. auto regulator opened an investigation Monday, June 22, after a Tesla using an automated driving feature slammed into a Texas home at high speed and killed a 76-year-old woman standing inside.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it's opening a special investigation into the Tesla Model 3 crash on Friday near Houston, a significant probe because the car was using technology that Elon Musk considers key to the company's future.

The Tesla CEO is rolling out robotaxis using automated software in several U.S. cities this year and plans to invite Tesla owners to put their cars into the fleet using the same system across the country.

The driver told the Harris County Sheriff's Office that he was using the technology, according to a police report on the crash, but it's not clear what role, if any, it played in the incident.

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment but the head of the company's artificial intelligence efforts suggested on social media later Monday that the self-driving feature was not to blame.

“In this case, the driver manually overrode self-driving by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100% of the accel pedal in this residential area,” wrote Ashok Elluswamy on X, the platform that is now part of Musk's rocket company, SpaceX. “They reached a speed of 73 mph during the crash, and had the accelerator pressed even after the crash.”

The police report noted that the driver was not drunk and is cooperating. It identified the woman killed as Martha Avila.

Video obtained by KHOU-TV shows the car traveling at top speed over the front lawn of a brick home in Katy, then ramming into a front room. The next shot shows the car encased in the home amid piles of crumbling plaster, split beams and bits of furniture.

The auto safety regulator, known as NHTSA, has launched several investigations into Tesla, including one late last year into 58 incidents in which Teslas reportedly violated traffic safety laws while using self-driving technology, leading to more than a dozen crashes and fires and nearly two dozen injuries.

A few months earlier, the NHTSA opened an investigation into why Tesla apparently had not been reporting crashes promptly as required.

As for special crash investigations, the NHTSA has opened 46 involving Teslas using self-driving or driver-assistance technology over the past decade, according to the agency's records. In more than a dozen of those crashes, at least one person — a driver, passenger or pedestrian — was killed.

Tesla stock fell sharply early last year as car sales plunged amid a boycott of Musk after he waded into politics, leading President Donald Trump's budget-cutting Department of Government Efficiency initiative and embracing European extremist candidates.

Musk has since shifted the Tesla story to one less about car sales and more about AI and robotaxis, and done so successfully. The stock is up 16% in the past year.

Intuitive Machines lands $1M grant to expand robotics operations

Expansion mode

Houston-based Intuitive Machines is expanding its operations around the country.

The space tech company—which has offices and labs in Texas, California, Arizona, Colorado and Maryland—announced that it has received a $1 million grant from Maryland Gov. Wes Moore through the state's Build Our Future Grant. The funding will go toward expanding Intuitive Machines’ Super Cislunar Robotics Assembly Building (Supa-CRAB) Mechanisms and Robotics Center of Excellence in Anne Arundel County.

The company will move into a 69,000-square-foot facility and build out additional lab and office space. It will also procure equipment that will allow for in-house Assembly, Integration and Test (AI&T) activities, according to a news release. Intuitive Machines says the expansion will take place this fall.

“This collaboration shows how industry, state programs, and education can reinforce one another,” Steve Altemus, CEO of Intuitive Machines, said in the release. “Maryland invests in innovation, companies grow and hire, students gain experience, and communities benefit from new opportunities and long-term career pathways. Together with Governor Moore, the state of Maryland, and Anne Arundel County leaders, we are building a permanent path to long-term lunar operations, an advanced robotics and mechanisms center of excellence, and a technology edge for our nation.”

Intuitive Machines first launched operations in Maryland in 2021 and has since expanded five times in the state. The company officially opened its robotics and mechanisms facility in 2024.

The Maryland team has built robotics and mechanisms for the Nova-C landers and IM-1 and IM-2 missions. In the future, Intuitive Machines expects the Maryland team to work on its IM-3 Rover Deployment Mechanism (RDM), a 360 pan-tilt camera for panoramic views, the Main Engine Gimbal (MEG), and the company's first data relay satellite, known as Altus-1.

Intuitive Machines moved into a new $40 million headquarters at the Houston Spaceport in 2023. The company announced an expansion of its lease last year.

The company announced a $175 million equity investment to fuel growth in March. It's since landed a $180 million NASA CLPS award to deliver seven payloads to the moon's Mons Malapert on the IM-5 mission.

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