Posts Tagged ‘Spaceport America’

Article courtesy of the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce

The Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce’s Commercial Space Committee will hold its first 2010 Dona Ana County Spaceport Community Council Meeting from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, January 26, in the commission chambers at the Dona Ana County Government Center, 845 Motel Blvd.  The meeting is a free forum that is open to the public to present the newest information available on Spaceport America and the burgeoning aerospace industry in southern New Mexico.

The evening’s presentations will focus on tourism-related activities taking place in the area and across the state that are focused on the one-of-a-kind combination of Spaceport America and New Mexico’s unique tourism assets.

The two-hour event will be hosted by Bob Diven, and start with an update on construction and business development progress from Steve Landeene, executive director of Spaceport America. Additional presentations will be given by an outstanding set of panelists including:

• Jennifer Hobson - New Mexico Tourism Department
• Randall Hayes - New Mexico Museum of Space History
• Bob Pofahl - Picacho Mountain Development
• Jerry Brown - Spaceport America Hard Hat Tours
• David Hicks - Las Cruces Convention Center
• Davin Lopez - Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance (MVEDA)
• Dr. Janet Green - NMSU’s School of Hospitality, Restaurant and Tourism Management

The remainder of the evening will be question-and-answer time for those in attendance to learn more about the project and its impacts on local/regional tourism. Questions will be gathered from attendees as they enter and will be presented to the panel by Diven.

The event will be taped and will air at a later time on CLC-TV cable channel 20 for those that are unable to attend.

The Spaceport Community Council Meetings will continue to be a regular quarterly event allowing the community to stay current with the status of Spaceport America and stay engaged in the process of “Building a Spaceport Community”.  Future meetings scheduled for 2010 will focus on educational and economic development impacts of the growth of Spaceport America and a new Commercial Space Industry in the region.

For more information, contact the Chamber office at 524-1968.

Happy New Year and welcome to 2010.  As we start a new year it is always important to reflect upon the past year’s events, both the challenges and the opportunities, and use these experiences to change strategies and/or direction where they are needed to become more productive and successful.

We started 2009 with what I believe were a greater amount of “unknowns” than “knowns”;  fears following a stock market crash, government bailouts, mass foreclosures, growing unemployment rates, and discussions of a recession was the topic of many conversations.   These were the challenges over the past year that all communities, businesses, and economic development agencies had to deal with, not just MVEDA.  As a region, Dona Ana County was not immune to this crisis.  We began the year at 5.5% unemployment and ended the year hovering around 7%.  However, compared to a 7.8% unemployment rate at the State level and a 9.4% rate at the national level (as of November), Dona Ana County actually fared pretty well.  And although we experienced the loss of a large employer with the Frontier Airlines’ reservation center closing here in Las Cruces, we were also balanced by increases in hiring by other service centers including Sitel, CyraCom, and Convergys.  We also experienced some decline in production/manufacturing jobs and the loss of Multi-Plastics.  However, we also experienced an unprecedented level of interest by companies in the emerging alternative energy sector which has led to some key opportunities; earlier in the year eSolar and NRG Energy announced a 92 megawatt solar project for Santa Teresa and earlier today, Johnson Plate and Tower announced their plans to build a wind tower manufacturing facility, also in Santa Teresa.    Sapphire Energy has invested $8 million in its research and development facility at the Las Cruces West Mesa Industrial Park and will invest another $100 million in Southern New Mexico to produce biofuel from algae.  Along with other alternative energy groups who have identified the region for their projects, Dona Ana County could realize up to 200 new jobs and up to $300 million dollars in new capital investments in the years to come as a result of 2009 activity.

At MVEDA, we enter 2010 optimistically.  After dropping out of the top five rankings of the best performing small cities by Forbes and the Milken Institute between 2002 and 2006, the Las Cruces NM MSA has again made the list of the Milken Institute’s top ten “Best Performing Small Cities.”  As Spaceport America comes on-line and if some of the other projects in our pipeline materialize, it should lead to regaining a top five position in the near future.

But we also realize that we have not yet fully escaped the economic crisis of the past year.  We know that economists are now beginning to talk about a recovery.  We know the current holiday shopping season experienced a 3.5% increase over last year’s holiday season illustrating an increase in consumer confidence.  We know from reports that foreclosure numbers will decrease from the levels experienced in 2008 and 2009.   We also know we have a pipeline of projects and companies that we are working with who are considering the region for growth.  We know that there is a growing alternative energy industry with its eyes on New Mexico and that MVEDA has been aggressive in gathering the attention of this industry.  But we also know that we still have a lot more to do.   But at least we enter the New Year with a few more “knowns” than the “unknowns” of 2009.

Sir Richard Branson Unveils SpaceShipTwo

Release Courtesy of Spaceport America and Virgin Galactic

LAS CRUCES - The world’s first manned commercial spaceship will be unveiled today in Mojave, California, and is projected to be flying from New Mexico’s Spaceport America, the world’s first purpose-built commercial spaceport, in 2011.

Today’s debut of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo (SS2) spaceship is to be attended by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson as well as New Mexico Spaceport Authority Executive Director Steve Landeene and other representatives of Spaceport America, the world headquarters of Virgin Galactic’s operations.

After a rigorous testing schedule, SS2 and its mothership, WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) will begin regular flying operations out of Spaceport America by some time in 2011. Spaceport America is currently under construction in New Mexico and is expected to be completed by early 2011.

For the complete press release from Virgin Galactic and accompanying photos, please visit the Virgin Galactic website.

A story featuring Spaceport America in Time Magazine is on newsstands today.  Entitled “Postcard from Las Cruces,” the story is written by former Life Magazine and People Magazine Editor Richard Stolley.

Spaceport America Architect's Rendering

The story provides some of the historical background of the development of Spaceport America, including the agreement between Sir Richard Branson and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson to make Spaceport America headquarters for Branson’s Virgin Galactic.

This story’s timing is great for Spaceport America because it’s coming out just before the December 7th Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo rollout in Mojave, Ca.

To read the entire story follow the “Postcard from Las Cruces” link above.

Article Courtesy of Spaceport America

UPHAM, NM - New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) officials announced a successful launch of a test flight vehicle for Lockheed Martin by UP Aerospace from Spaceport America on Saturday, October 10. The brief test flight was a non-public, unpublished event at the request of Lockheed Martin, who is testing proprietary advanced launch technologies. “Saturday’s launch successfully lifted off at 9:45 a.m. during our four-hour launch window,” said UP Aerospace President Jerry Larson.  “This is our third launch for Lockheed Martin from Spaceport America, which is proving to be an ideal location for supplying low-cost, fast-turnaround launch operations.” UP Aerospace plans to double its number of customer launches from Spaceport America to six or more in 2010 as demand for the company’s services increases.

The latest launch represents yet another successful launch from Spaceport America, the world’s first purpose-built commercial spaceport. NMSA Executive Director Steve Landeene said, “We are extremely pleased to host another launch by UP Aerospace, the third this year, which continues to set the precedent for safe, practical commercial spaceflight at Spaceport America.” Earlier this year, UP Aerospace provided services for the New Mexico Education Launch on May 2, an event sponsored by the NMSA and the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium. On August 4, UP Aerospace had a successful launch for Moog-FTS, and Saturday’s launch was the third. UP Aerospace first launched from Spaceport America in September 2006.

Currently under construction, Spaceport America is the world’s first purpose-built commercial space facility. Spaceport America has been working closely with leading aerospace firms such as Virgin Galactic, Lockheed Martin, Moog-FTS, UP Aerospace, and Armadillo Aerospace to develop commercial spaceflight. Spaceport America’s 10,000-foot long runway is now under construction and is expected to be complete by late summer 2010 with the Terminal Hangar Facility projected to be complete by early 2011.