New Mexico Not Suffering From Lack of X Prize Cup

Economy, rule change ground X Prize plans
Las Cruces Sun-News

The X Prize Cup, an event aimed at spurring innovation in space technology, won’t be held this year in southern New Mexico, as it has in recent years…

Plus, Landeene said, the state wasn’t able to sponsor the event financially this year because of the poor economy. He said early on, the state invested about $2 million in sponsorships for the event. Later, when it moved to Alamogordo, the level dropped to about $750,000. But even that isn’t possible this year, he said.The two-day spaceflight symposium took place this week in Las Cruces, but without the X Prize Cup.

Still, Landeene said he doesn’t feel the state has suffered a loss by not hosting the X Prize Cup this year. He said the event served its purpose in generating excitement about Spaceport America before the project was a certainty. But now that the spaceport is being built, he said, there’s not as much need.

“The message is, we’ve come into our own,” he said.

Read the full story.