His father was a judge, his uncle
was a civil rights activist, and another uncle became the first Hispanic
commissioner appointed by a president.
Sam Ximenes is a pioneering space
architect who has a big vision and plans to make San Antonio a hub for space
exploration and architecture.
Space architecture is the design and
building of physical structures for human needs in outer space. As the field
grows, more people are needed to build space stations, habitats and lunar or
planetary bases.
And while his local companies
achieve success through design, Ximenes is recruiting San Antonio students for
the workforce, making STEM education, tech and architecture accessible.
His work, belief in education, and
entrepreneurial spirit follow the steps of his family, who achieved the Mexican
American dream through the same values.
Born at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort
Sam Houston and baptized at the San Fernando Cathedral, the San Antonio native
founded the Exploration Architecture Corporation, known as XArc, and Astroport
Space Technologies, companies
focused on designing and developing lunar surface infrastructure from raw moon
material. This year, their work
attracted more than $1 million in NASA grants to fund technologies needed for
lunar surface landing and launch pads.
In 2016, he founded the nonprofit
WEX Foundation, which offers programs for children in San Antonio that
introduce them to space exploration and engineering.
It’s named after his late father,
Judge Waldo E. Ximenes, who he described as an unwavering proponent of
educational opportunity for those who were economically or socially
disadvantaged. Ximenes has worked for
aerospace companies like Lockheed Martin, L-3 Communications, and Futron
Corporation, but he eventually came back to his roots in San Antonio.
In May 2023, Ximenes was inducted
into the San Antonio Aviation and Aerospace Hall of Fame.
He comes from a line of exemplary
Mexican American public servants: His uncle Vicente T. Ximenes was the first
Hispanic commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, appointed
by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Another uncle, Edward Ximenes, was
the first Hispanic member appointed to the Board of Regents for the University
of Texas System. For 25 years, he advocated for a UT campus at San Antonio.
Today, a UTSA campus driveway street
and a building are named after him. His
family had roots in Floresville, but Ximenes grew up as a military brat, moving
often.
At seven years old, he lived in
Germany at the height of the Cold War.
In a 2013 TedxSan Antonio Talk, Ximenes said he found a cave one day. He
lay on his belly and crawled to the end of the tunnel in pure darkness and
found a box of German coins.
“That sense of adventure and
discovery into the darkness of that cave has never left me,” he said in his
speech.
Today, Ximenes’ companies are
developing technology to explore caves on the lunar surface.
But where does that tech come from
to get to the moon — or Mars? “Right
here,” he said. “You can’t tell me the economic development of this lunar base
is not tied to the economic development of the community that sponsored it: San
Antonio.” Because of the growth of his
companies that work with space companies and agencies, like Virgin Galactic,
the U.S. military and NASA, Ximenes
spends most of his days doing administrative work.
Much of what he talked about in that
Tedx talk a decade ago has come to fruition, thanks to NASA depending on
private companies and other institutions like the Southwest Research Instituteand the University of Texas at San Antonio to advance space exploration.
Now, Ximenes is predicting a
continuation of those partnerships. “What’s going to happen next is we’re going
to build an economy,” he said.
“The next economy is going to be in
space: A cislunar economy,” referring to the space between the earth and the
moon.
And as people and starships begin to
come and go while they dig for resources on the moon or Mars, Ximenes said fuel
depots for them will be essential.
Grinning while he speaks, Ximenes
has the enthusiastic energy of a visionary, but has the business plans to back
it up.
Astroport’s goal is to create the
technology and architecture to be a space port fixed base operator,
similar to business models that
serve aircrafts, for example, doing refueling and maintenance.
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