SpaceX Announces “Grasshopper” Test Program at Spaceport America

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 [...]

Is Space Tourism The Right Stuff?

Courtesy of the Las Cruces Bulletin, by Todd G. Dickson The scaling back of government support for the traditional space program could be reversed if the new private space entrepreneurs are successful, said a keynote speaker on the first day of the two-day International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS). Robert Dickman, executive director [...]

Governor Promises Continued Support for Space Industry in N.M.

Courtesy of the Las Cruces Sun-News, by Steve Ramirez LAS CRUCES — Gov. Susana Martinez admitted Thursday she was preaching to the choir — a standing-room-only crowd of more than 500 people attending the eighth annual International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight, at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum. It was a [...]

Space Industry to Meet Next Week

Courtesy of the Las Cruces Bulletin, by Todd G. Dickson It’s been a big week in the new private space industry on the eve of the main space-industry gathering in Las Cruces. On Wednesday, Oct. 10, a commercially launched capsule docked into the International Space Station, marking the reopening of a U.S. supply line to [...]

White Knight Two Touches Down in NM Desert

Article courtesy of Las Cruces Sun-News By Diane Alba, Staff and Wire reports UPHAM – Virgin Galactic’s Sir Richard Branson, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and prospective astronauts gathered in the southern New Mexico desert Friday to celebrate the completion of the runway at the world’s first purpose-built commercial spaceport. Spaceport America is the world’s [...]

Space Gathering Posts Largest-Ever Attendance, Official Says

Article Courtesy of Las Cruces Sun-News By Diana M. Alba LAS CRUCES – Michael Blum’s conference name tag dubs him as an “astronaut-in-waiting.”He’s one of Virgin Galactic’s customers, and, if all goes well, he and five friends will launch into suborbital space about a year after the company begins its commercial space tourism operations at [...]

New Mexico Space Grant Consortium Named FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation

Release courtesy of Spaceport America Las Cruces, NM – Spaceport America and the New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) congratulate Dr. Pat Hynes and the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium at New Mexico State University (NMSU) for being selected as the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation (COE-CST). Winning the nationwide [...]