Shapiro hopes to solidify Pittsburgh’s place in space by investing in aerospace company

Engineers are building the next tools to launch us into outer space inside a space museum on Pittsburgh’s North Side.

Behind glass in the Moonshot Museum is the Griffin lunar lander — the largest lunar lander since the Apollo Mission. It is the second lunar lander built on the North Side at Astrobotic. Officials plan to move the device from Pittsburgh to Florida to the moon, a plan state officials hope will solidify Pittsburgh’s place in space.

“You’re leading the way not just for our Commonwealth, for our country, but literally just for the entire world,” said Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.

On Tuesday, Shapiro along with other local leaders toured what will now be the official command center for the next moon launch and pledged their support.

“My administration is going to invest over $4 million in Astrobotic to support their growth and their expansion in this growing tech industry here in Western Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said.

That money will help turn a once-abandoned building on Reedsdale Street into a four-story space tech hub employing more than 250 high-earning workers.

“You took a chance in a city built in the mountains, to say that we can be more than what we are today. We can have a transformation to go to space you made that happen,” said Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey.

But CEO John Thornton said his commitment to Pittsburgh won’t stop there. First, he plans to launch the Peregrine lander in December, next the Griffin, then the hub on Reedsdale Street and finally a space district.

“Every parking lot we see as an opportunity to turn that into underground parking and thriving businesses above. We right now send people to California and all over the county to go visit our suppliers we’d much rather walk down the street,” Thornton said.

The Peregrine launch will take place on Christmas Eve.

Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW

©2023 Cox Media Group