California Science Center targets November 2026 opening for vertical Endeavour display
Jeffrey Rudolph confirms 142 days remain until the facility’s debut, which features a 56-metre vertical assembly of the space shuttle Endeavour, funded by Lynda Oschin in memory of her late husband.
The California Science Center in Los Angeles has set a firm opening date of 13 November 2026 for the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center. The facility will house the space shuttle Endeavour in a vertical configuration, stacked with its external tank and twin solid rocket boosters. This marks a significant shift from the orbiter’s previous horizontal exhibition, which was first revealed to the public in 2012.
Jeffrey Rudolph, president and chief executive of the science centre, stated that there are 142 days remaining until the opening. He described the project as exceeding expectations, noting that visitors who have seen the installation are consistently awestruck by the scale of the display. The centre has been in development for over 30 years, with the master plan dating back further than that.
The assembly of the shuttle stack required four years of construction and unique engineering. The process was completed outside of a NASA facility, a task that former space shuttle engineer Dennis Jenkins, who served as the project director, initially described as seeming impossible. Jenkins noted that while the engineering was extremely difficult, the solution proved effective once implemented.
The new centre comprises the Samuel Oschin Shuttle Gallery, the Korean Air Aviation Gallery, and the Kent Kresa Space Gallery. Recent installation activities have included a segment of a solid rocket booster, a Hawker Siddeley Harrier T.4 aircraft, a Rocket Lab Electron booster, and a 70-foot forward section of a Korean Air Boeing 747-400 fuselage. Rudolph confirmed that further testing of operational issues will occur before the public launch.
Visitors will experience a pre-show video in a theatre, which concludes with a fog effect before a wall drops away to reveal the 184-foot stack. The exhibit offers multiple viewing levels, including a glass elevator and a transparent walkway at the top. Lynda Oschin, who directed her family foundation to make the leading donation to honour her late husband Sam, confirmed that a framed photograph of him is located on the flight deck of the orbiter.
