Mayor Sylvester Turner was on hand to welcome more than 2,000 visitors from the U.S. and around the world to the second annual Space Commerce Conference and Exposition (SpaceCom) held Nov. 17-19 at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

The three-day conference program explored business opportunities from, and between, space and terrestrial industries, with an emphasis on common technology challenges across industries. Attendees explored ways to create and capitalize on new business opportunities. Just last year, the space industry was valued at $350 billion and will continue to grow exponentially in the foreseeable future.

“SpaceCom unites the commercial space industry to cohesively look for business opportunities and advancements, said Houston Spaceport and Ellington Airport General Manager Arturo Machuca. “Houston serves as the perfect host city for this very important conference offering not only a warm and hospitable welcome but many of the industry’s best and brightest work and live here.”

SpaceCom, a partnership between NASA’s Johnson Space Center, the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau, Houston First Corporation and National Trade Productions, Inc., addresses the massive transformation and growth taking place across the aerospace market driven by the rise of privately-funded companies, the development of innovative technologies and business models, new approaches to public-private collaboration, and the application of space technologies to industries across the economy.

For more information, please visit www.spacecomexpo.com.