The New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) is a non-governmental panel, appointed by the
Governor of New Mexico
, insignia = Seal of the Governor of New Mexico.svg
, insigniasize = 110px
, insigniacaption = Seal of the Governor
, image = File:Michelle Lujan Grisham 2021.jpg
, imagesize = 200px
, alt =
, incumbent = Michelle Lujan Grisham
, incu ...
, whose members represent the public sector in the development and construction of
Spaceport America
Spaceport America, formerly the Southwest Regional Spaceport, is an FAA-licensed spaceport located on of State Trust Land in the Jornada del Muerto desert basin north of Las Cruces, New Mexico, and southeast of Truth or Consequences. With V ...
, the world's first purpose-built commercial
spaceport
A spaceport or cosmodrome is a site for launching or receiving spacecraft, by analogy to a seaport for ships or an airport for aircraft. The word ''spaceport'', and even more so ''cosmodrome'', has traditionally been used for sites capable ...
.
Two-thirds of the $212 million used to build the spaceport was paid by the
State of New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
with the rest provided by
bond
Bond or bonds may refer to:
Common meanings
* Bond (finance), a type of debt security
* Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States
* Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemica ...
s backed by
Doña Ana County
Don (; ; pt, Dom, links=no ; all from Latin ', roughly 'Lord'), abbreviated as D., is an honorific prefix primarily used in Spain and Hispanic America, and with different connotations also in Italy, Portugal and its former colonies, and Croatia ...
and
Sierra County,
[
] which will be partially repaid by locally generated gross receipts tax revenues. NMSA operates the spaceport, whose anchor tenant is
Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic is an American spaceflight company founded by Richard Branson and his British Virgin Group retains an 11.9% stake through Virgin Investments Limited. It is headquartered in California, and operates from New Mexico. The company i ...
, a component of the
Virgin Group
Virgin Group Ltd. is a British multinational venture capital conglomerate founded by Richard Branson and Nik Powell in February 1970.
Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by the Companies House, who class it as a holding c ...
of global companies operated by Sir
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields.
Branson expressed ...
.
Operational status
In February 2011, the governor of New Mexico appointed Christine Anderson as executive director of the Spaceport Authority.
In April 2011, the Authority announced that its budget for fiscal year 2012 had been reduced by 57 percent.
In March 2012, the Authority announced that it had completed what it called ''Phase I'' of the Virgin/Spaceport America construction project. This Phase I included a 10,000-foot runway, a terminal hangar, and a domed Space Operations Center. Phase II, the visitor center and actual liftoff pad, remained unbuilt as of March 2012.
Current Events
The current status of Virgin Galactic, the sole prospective tenant of the New Mexico Spaceport and its Authority, has led members of the New Mexico legislature to question the feasibility of the spaceport. The spaceport has attempted to diversify its revenue, bringing in additional tenants such as SpaceX and SpinLaunch, opening a tourist center, hosting an annual rocket competition, and serving as a backdrop for commercials.
After the
VSS Enterprise crash
VSS may refer to:
Organizations
* Vegetarian Society (Singapore)
* Vernon Secondary School, a high school in Vernon, B.C.
* Veronis Suhler Stevenson, media company
* Voluntary Sports Societies of the Soviet Union
* FC VSS Košice, a Slovak footbal ...
on October 31, 2014, Virgin Galactic indefinitely postponed its planned operational startup date in New Mexico. In November 2014, Anderson requested that the legislature consider creating an supplemental emergency fund to enable the spaceport to maintain its operations, and told lawmakers that the Authority will try to rent out the spaceport for "video shoots or concerts."
Anderson stepped down as executive director in 2016,
and was replaced by aerospace professional Dan Hicks. Hicks was CEO of the spaceport until July 2020, when he was placed on administrative leave following a whistleblower complaint from the spaceport CFO. Hicks was fired in October, and the New Mexico Office of the State Auditor released a report concluding that Hicks had violated state law.
NMSA is seeking a new leader, with the director of business development Scott McLaughlin serving in an interim capacity.
See also
*
California Space Authority
The California Space Authority (CSA) was a nonprofit corporation representing the commercial, civil, and national defense/homeland security interests of California's diverse space enterprise community in four domains: Industry, Government, Acade ...
*
Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority
The Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority (OSIDA) is a development authority created by the state of Oklahoma to operate a spaceport near Burns Flat, Oklahoma.
The Authority's primary asset is the former Clinton-Sherman Industrial Airpark ...
*
Space Florida
Space Florida is the aerospace economic development agency of the State of Florida. The agency was created by consolidating three existing state space entities into a single new organization via the Space Florida Act, enacted in May 2006 by the ...
*
Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority
The Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority (VCSFA), commonly known as Virginia Space, is a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia focused on bringing Private spaceflight, commercial spaceflig ...
References
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Aerospace business development agencies
State agencies of New Mexico