Posts Tagged ‘Chad Rabon’

Article courtesy of the Las Cruces Bulletin, by Todd G. Dickson

With Virgin Galactic developing its spaceliner and new launch testing at Spaceport America, the first jobs created by the spaceport are coming, members of a panel said.  At the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce community update forum Tuesday, Jan. 10, at the Doña Ana County Government Center, Wayne Savage of the chamber’s spaceport committee said the forum was about making Spaceport America bring about the promise of jobs. We’re beginning to see things take place, and we’re seeing opportunities show up, and that’s what we’re here for,” Savage said.

Chad Rabon of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) said the first phase of construction on the $209 million spaceport between Las Cruces and Truth or Consequences is almost complete. To get Spaceport America ready for business with a runway, vertical launch area, several support facilities and the terminal hangar for its anchor tenant Virgin Galactic. NMSA is now starting the spaceport’s second construction phase, which Rabon said includes paving the southern road leading to the complex. It was recently announced that the surfacing of the already wide and well-grated county road won’t require time-consuming environmental studies.

Spaceport America operations are located the Lewis Cain Ranch and is surrounded by similar desert range ranches 45 miles north of Las Cruces.

The next construction phase includes adding more pads and support facilities to the spaceport’s vertical area, Robin said. NMSA is currently accepting bids on contracts to provide information technology and space operations support.

Already, activity at NMSU is picking up for research and development of new systems, such as reusable rocket boosters, with Lockheed Martin winning an Air Force contract to test its design for such a system at Spaceport America.

NMSA’s Aaron Prescott said Armadillo Aerospace has tested more traditional rocket prototypes with three launches since May. Also, Boeing will test a helicopter avionics system at the spaceport, he said. The new construction will provide a second pad for vertical launches and rollback shelter for these kinds of tests, Prescott said. The current Spaceport America vertical launch facility was developed for UP Aerospace that has been launching sounding rockets since 2006 to send a variety of small payloads into suborbital space.

With the State Legislature about to start its new session, Prescott mentioned spaceport supporters are pushing for refining the 2010 law that protects companies such as Virgin Galactic from lawsuits as something goes wrong with a flight carrying passengers. The informed consent legislation didn’t extend those protections to suppliers of the spaceship companies, but competing states have passed protections granting protections to support industries.  “It doesn’t help us very much to protect the operator, but not the supplier,” Prescott said. “This is key for Spaceport America to remain competitive with other states.”

Mark Butler of Virgin Galactic, who moved from England to New Mexico, said the company is making progress on the safety and flight testing of its prototype of the kind of thrilling but- upscale suborbital flights it plans to give passengers for $200,000 a ride.  The craft that will carry the six-passenger spaceship to 50,000 feet for midair launches, the White Knight 2, has completed about 80 flights reaching important altitude and duration goals, Butler said.

Testing has begun with Spaceship 2 more than 15 “captive carry” flights and 16 release and- glide tests, Butler said. The hybrid engine – the world’s largest such engines – is being tested, he said, and the company won’t start taking passengers into space until the system performs safely, he said.  “We are now pushing the envelope on that system,” Butler said. “Yes, this is rocket science, so it takes a while. … This kind of thing does take a long time, and this is the first time this is being done so we are going to take the time to do it right.”

Butler reported that five Virgin Galactic staff members are now using office space in Las Cruces.  Once the flights begin on a regular basis, Butler said Virgin is going to need human resources and financial people, all the normal behind-the-scenes people. Also, there will be people hired to provide a variety of customer services, he said.  The space business goes beyond needing engineers and other technical staff, but also hospitality and other support staff, Butler said. Virgin does intend to buy local supplies as much as possible, he said.

“It’s important for us to get our supply chain to New Mexico,” Butler said.  With $60 million in deposits and more than 500 signed up as future astronauts, Virgin has “a hugely busy year ahead of us,” he said. To work for Virgin, Butler recommended patience and persistence.

Meanwhile, Fiore Industries won the contract for providing protective services to the spaceport, including security, EMS, fire protection and hazardous materials control. Fiore’s Tim Zagorski said the company is hiring people with local experience and subcontracted with local entities such Sierra Vista Hospital and the Las Cruces-based Zia Engineering “We strongly believe in local economic development,” he said “ We even rent power generators from a local company and buy fuel locally.”

Fiore will be looking to buy fire equipment, EMS vehicles and equipment in the near future, he said, and the company is seeking applicants for security guards, firefighters and EMTs. The company will need 15 security guards and 15 firefighters/EMTs, along with some office and compliance support, he said.

Also at the forum was Paul Schmidt of EASI, general services contractor, that will be running spaceport functions, such as water and wastewater, fuel depot operations, electrical systems, roads and grounds upkeep, runway maintenance, generator maintenance and repair, janitorial services, pest control and even HazMat clean-up and removal.

Release courtesy of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority

LAS CRUCES, NM – The New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) announced the selection of Fiore Industries Inc., of Albuquerque, NM, as the contractor to perform Protective Services for Spaceport America. The company was awarded a two-year base contract with a not-to-exceed value of $2.3 million and two one-year renewal options. Fiore will provide 24/7 site security, badging, firefighting, emergency medical services and environmental, safety and health requirements at Spaceport America. Initially, the contractor will develop policies and procedures for the site security, emergency response, and risk management, as well as perform pre-operational exercises.

Fiore will lead a team of companies that will work together to provide all Protective Service requirements during the two-year contract period. Other team members include: Allied Barton Security Services, LLC (ABSS); Sierra Vista Hospital New Mexico (SVH); Zia Engineering and Environmental Consultants, LLC (Zia); and New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NM Tech).

The Fiore team has experience providing a broad range of services including security services to all United Space Alliance facilities, security support to the Miami International Airport, and security services to Raytheon Corporation. The team also served White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) as both the incident command contractor and the firefighting response contractor, and served Region 2 Emergency Medical Services, Inc. as the EMS contractor. This caliber of relevant experience makes the team well suited to provide service at Spaceport America.

“The New Mexico Spaceport Authority is very pleased to award our Protective Services contract to Fiore Industries, Inc. Fiore is a New Mexico-based contractor with extensive experience providing these type of services,” said Chad Rabon, NMSA General Operations Manager.

Bill Miera, President and Chief Executive Officer of Fiore, Inc., said “Fiore Industries is honored to have been chosen by the NMSA to perform this critical work on the first-ever, purpose-built spaceport.  Along with our partners, we are committed to the success of this endeavor. Having been born and raised in New Mexico and having family here that goes back to the 1600s, I have worked on creating jobs and educational opportunities in this state my entire career.  We consider ourselves stakeholders in the spaceport effort and as such, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with the NMSA in creating employment in such a leading-edge industry”.

About Spaceport America

Spaceport America has been providing commercial launch services since 2006.  Phase One of the construction for the spaceport is expected to be complete in late 2011.  Phase Two of the construction and pre-operations activities will follow, including the development of a world-class Visitors Experience for students, tourists and space launch customers.

The State of New Mexico entered into a 20-year lease agreement with Virgin Galactic, Spaceport America’s anchor tenant.  Virgin Galactic is currently developing the world’s first commercial passenger-carrying space vehicle fleet, including the WhiteKnightTwo mother ship and SpaceShipTwo launch vehicle.

Officials at Spaceport America have been working closely with entrepreneurial space leaders like Virgin Galactic, UP Aerospace, and Armadillo Aerospace, as well as established aerospace firms like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Moog-FTS to develop commercial spaceflight at the new facility.  The economic impact of launches, tourism and new construction at Spaceport America are already delivering on the promise of economic development to the people of New Mexico.

For more information, please visit: www.spaceportamerica.com

For more information on Preview Tours, please visit: www.ftstours.com

Facebook: Spaceport America, or follow us on Twitter: @Spaceport_NM

About Fiore Industries Inc.

Fiore was started in Albuquerque, NM by Bill Miera in 1989 and remains a New Mexico-based firm with multiple sites. They bring over 22 years of successful operations experience and achievements to the spaceport. They have been awarded numerous innovative research contracts and are currently developing a new, more capable “jaws of life” technology with New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology to assist in emergency response and rescue. Flore was also named as one of NM Business Weekly’s “Top 25 Technology Companies” from 2002 to 2006. In 2010, they were named the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business of the Year in 2009.

Fiore brings a structured method for managing complex services through individual subcontractors, an in-depth understanding of financial management and project reporting requirements, and a broad understanding of the local New Mexico culture and employment market. 

For more information, please visit: www.fiore-ind.com

Article courtesy of the Las Cruces Sun-News

By Diana M. Alba

LAS CRUCES – Squeezing in a stop here while en route to London, Virgin Galactic’s president and CEO told spaceport officials Tuesday that the company remains committed to basing its suborbital flight operations in New Mexico.

George Whitesides addressed the new board of directors of Spaceport America for the first time since an abrupt change in spaceport leadership that was carried out by Gov. Susana Martinez. It was also the first session attended by Spaceport Authority Executive Director Christine Anderson, hired last week by the board.

“The primary message we wanted to share, and the reason I’m here is to express a desire to continue to be a strong partner with the spaceport for the taxpayers of New Mexico,” Whitesides said. “We are all making a very big investment together.”

While addressing the board, Whitesides noted the state is planning to spend about $200 million in constructing the spaceport and said Virgin Galactic is “investing somewhere on the order of $400 million to develop its spaceflight vehicles.” “These are nontrivial investments,” he said. “We take this project very seriously at all levels. And the relationship between our organization and the state and particularly the Spaceport Authority and staff is going to be of critical importance as we drive to successful commercial operations over the coming years.”

Whitesides, a former chief of staff for NASA, was hired last year as CEO for Virgin Galactic, considered the spaceport’s anchor tenant company. This year, he was named president, too.

Spaceport board Chairman Rick Holdridge of Deming said he invited Whitesides to the board’s meeting during a teleconference soon after Anderson was hired on Feb. 28, and, “to his credit, he made it happen.” Holdridge said he didn’t pick up any new message Tuesday. “I very much appreciated his commitment to this new board,” he said. “They’re reiterating the commitment Virgin Galactic has to New Mexico in the form of having operations out of New Mexico.”

Virgin Galactic has signed a 20-year agreement with the state, committing to launch suborbital spaceflights from Spaceport America in southeastern Sierra County. Whitesides said the company is “very encouraged with the progress of Spaceport America.”

Construction of the $209 million spaceport is about 70 to 80 percent complete, Chad Rabon, a spaceport staff member, told the board Tuesday.

Martinez didn’t waste time making spaceport leadership changes upon taking office Jan. 1. She called for the resignations of the previous board, appointed by Gov. Bill Richardson, and former Director Rick Homans. The board was reappointed in February, but the abruptness of the change and the fact the agency was without a director or deputy director had stirred concern among some spaceport advocates. Martinez confirmed that at one point, billionaire Richard Branson – who heads Virgin Group, the parent company of Virgin Galactic – called and asked her to retain Homans as director.

Holdridge said he met Whitesides once before, when he flew in for a visit with him and state Economic Development Secretary Jon Barela. That was not long after Holdridge was appointed to the chairman post.

Branson said during a visit to the spaceport last fall that the company was expecting to launch its first suborbital flights from Spaceport America between mid-summer of this year and spring of 2012.

Tuesday, Whitesides said the company’s flight test program is progressing, but “we still have a ways to go.” Virgin Galactic plans to use a two-vehicle system, comprised of a carrier plane and a rocket-powered spaceship, to carry passengers to suborbital space.

In all, the carrier plane, WhiteKnightTwo, has completed 49 flights, Whitesides told the spaceport board. The spaceship’s rocket motor is being developed, but glide testing, in which the vehicle is carried aloft and released, is continuing, he said. “We’ve got four glide tests of the spaceship successfully completed,” he said. “A fifth will be coming up soon.”

Holdridge said Whitesides flew to the Las Cruces airport Tuesday morning on a charter plane, and then left from El Paso on his way to London.

Anderson was present at Tuesday’s meeting but deferred most presentations to spaceport staff, saying she’s still catching up to speed on the spaceport project. All but one member of the spaceport board were present in person at the meeting, held at New Mexico State University’s main campus. Board member Scott Krahling, also a Dona Ana County commissioner, didn’t attend because a county commission meeting was held at the same time.

Diana M. Alba can be reached at (575) 541-5443.