WHAT WE REPORTED The Houston Spaceport in Ellington Airport comprises 300 acres of empty land officials hope will one day house space technology companies and a commercial spaceport capable of taking residents to domestic and international destinations in a fraction of the time it takes today. The Houston City Council in October approved spending $18.8 million on developing infrastructure for Phase 1 of the spaceport. THE LATEST Contractors will break ground on building infrastructure, which includes four main roads, in February, Ellington Airport General Manager Arturo Machuca said. It is expected construction of the roads, power lines, water and wastewater lines, and communication equipment will finish in the first quarter of 2020. Already the infrastructure is attracting developers. Spaceport officials are in confidential talks with aerospace companies that want to locate to the spaceport, where new infrastructure will soon be waiting for them. It is possible a new company could be in the spaceport before infrastructure is even fully built, Machuca said. “I am very hopeful that we will have something happen in 2019,” he said. The development also includes a 33-acre drainage ditch to capture stormwater runoff, Machuca said.