A project centering on the construction of a 2 million square foot satellite manufacturing facility in Albuquerque may also include fitness space, a food hall, and hotel.
The Washington, D.C.-based Theia Group Incorporated several months ago said it wants to build a manufacturing plant as well as a 1.3 million square foot research and testing facility on a site known as the Aviation Center of Excellence Business Park.
That roughly 120-acre location at Gibson Boulevard and Girard Boulevard, which has been vacant for the better part of a decade, is not far from the Albuquerque International Sunport.
Working with a subsidiary called Group Orion, the Theia Group project will also include office space, space for employee daycare, and a 7-story parking structure.
The site plan for the project was approved by members of the Albuquerque Development Commission four months ago.
In a new hearing before the Albuquerque Development Review Board, it was learned that the Theia Group is in the process of trying to work out a lease agreement with the City Aviation department for the land required for the project.
Theia is a startup company with a business model based on planet surveillance via the use of satellites.
Last year, the company signed a letter of intent with the City of Albuquerque to lease the land near the airport.
Although an exact date for the start of construction has not yet been announced, it is thought that the Theia/Orion project could prove to be one of the largest in regional history, with an estimated price tag of anywhere between $8 billion and $10 billion.
Theia is working on a project called the Theia Satellite Network, which will digitize the entire earth through the deployment and use of more than 100 satellites capturing imagery and data.
By Garry Boulard
