Science Center finishes new hall

Construction is finished on the California Science Center’s Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, the new permanent home for Space Shuttle Endeavour in Los Angeles. (californiasciencecenter.org) The museum said April 13 that the project wraps four years after its June 2022 groundbreaking. The addition spans 200,000 square feet and nearly doubles the Science Center’s exhibit space. (californiasciencecenter.org) Workers are now installing artifacts and interactive exhibits, and the Science Center said that phase will continue for several months before it announces an opening date. (californiasciencecenter.org) A space shuttle system is more than the orbiter people recognize from television. It also includes the external tank and solid rocket boosters that helped lift the shuttle off the pad. (californiasciencecenter.org) The new hall is built around that full stack. The Science Center says it will be the only place in the world to show an authentic space shuttle system in a vertical “ready-for-launch” position. (californiasciencecenter.org; laist.com) That display has been years in the making. Endeavour arrived in Los Angeles on September 21, 2012, then completed a 12-mile trip through city streets to the California Science Center in October 2012. (californiasciencecenter.org; nasa.gov) The shuttle first went on public display at the museum on October 30, 2012, inside a temporary pavilion. The new building is the long-planned permanent version of that exhibit. (nasa.gov; collectspace.com) Inside the expansion, visitors will move through three main galleries: the Samuel Oschin Shuttle Gallery, the Korean Air Aviation Gallery and the Kent Kresa Space Gallery. The Science Center says the building will hold 100 aerospace artifacts and 100 hands-on exhibits. (californiasciencecenter.org) The structure itself is part of the project’s scale. Designed by ZGF Architects and built by MATT Construction, it rises 200 feet and uses a curving stainless-steel exterior inspired by shuttle aerodynamics. (californiasciencecenter.org) Museum officials were still saying in November 2025 that they expected to announce an opening date in 2026. Now that the shell is done, the last big public milestone is the day visitors can finally walk into Endeavour’s full launch configuration. (laist.com; californiasciencecenter.org)