Governor Susana Martinez today announced that Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, or SpaceX, has signed a three-year agreement to lease land and facilities at Spaceport America to conduct the next phase of flight testing for its reusable rocket program. The company will be a new tenant at Spaceport America, the state-owned commercial launch site located in [...]
Read MoreFROM THE DIRECTOR We awarded a contract to R-CON Construction Inc. of Las Cruces for the Spaceport Operations Center (SOC) fit-out. The SOC is the facility that will house the New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) staff as well as all of the support contractors. Once completed, we can occupy the building. We have completed much [...]
Read MoreFROM THE DIRECTOR At a ceremony on-site at Spaceport America this afternoon, New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez signed into law the Informed Consent legislation. The new law provides expanded liability coverage to spacecraft manufacturers and suppliers, and preserves New Mexico’s leadership and competitive standing within the commercial space industry. We at NMSA are grateful to [...]
Read MoreSPACEPORT AMERICA – Following unanimous passage by the state’s legislature, New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez signed legislation today expanding existing liability protections for spaceflight operators to spaceflight manufacturers and suppliers. The New Mexico Expanded Space Flight Informed Consent Act prevents lawsuit abuse and addresses the inherent risks of space flight and is written to ensure [...]
Read MoreCourtesy of the Las Cruces Sun-News, by Brook Stockberger The Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance is finding a “nice balance” in the current fiscal year, which runs from July 1 to June 30. A public/private organization, MVEDA is an economic development arm for all of Doña Ana County and works to not only attract companies [...]
Read MoreNow that the Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) has been in operation for over 9 months, the accumulated data set is of sufficient duration to enable the types of analyses that will help with future mission planning. Technical staff members have been working on efficient means to organize and archive the data, and to perform [...]
Read MoreSpaceport America hosted the 18th spaceport launch on January 5 with the Armadillo Aerospace STIG B reusable suborbital research rocket. This was the third FAA licensed vehicle launch at the spaceport. At the request of the customer the event was unannounced. The flight mission was focused on continued testing of the vehicle. The vehicle failed [...]
Read MoreOne of the most discussed issues to be addressed in the upcoming legislative session is the enhanced informed consent legislation being supported by a large number of organizations and citizens throughout New Mexico. The legislation is part of the New Century Economy Jobs Agenda promoted by the New Mexico Economic Development Department and unanimously supported [...]
Read MoreCourtesy of Spaceport America The Spaceport Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) was commissioned by the FAA on December 18. Although the system has been functioning for several months, the FAA has now certified it for use in supporting aerospace operations. Current weather conditions for the spaceport can be obtained by calling 575-267-8806. The spaceport technical [...]
Read MoreCourtesy of the Las Cruces Bulletin, by Richard Coltharp With or without a fiscal cliff, New Mexico, one of the nation’s per-capita leaders in federal jobs, may lose at least some of those jobs both in the near and long terms. “The federal government can no longer be considered a growth industry in New Mexico,” [...]
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