by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor
NMPolitics.net and its publisher, Heath Haussamen, have settled a lawsuit against the secretive New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) that runs Spaceport America. The authority agreed to release a group of fully unredacted leases of tenants at the spaceport and to pay the website $60,000.
The released tenant leases included:
UPDATED: 8/20/19, 12:08 p.m. PDT
by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor
Sometime in 2020, if all goes according to plan, British billionaire Richard Branson will board Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity at Spaceport America in New Mexico and take the first commercial suborbital space flight in history.
The landmark flight, which Virgin has been trying to conduct for 15 years, will also be the culmination of a 30-year effort by New Mexico to become a commercial space power.
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The New Mexico Legislature was generous to Spaceport America this year, providing nearly $17 million to pay for operating expenses and a series of upgrades designed to allow the struggling facility to attract more tenants. The funding includes $10 million for a new satellite testing and development hangar, $5 million for a fuel farm, $500,000 for a launch vehicle payload integration facility, and $500,000 to repair and upgrade “electrical, fire […]
Sunset at the “Virgin Galactic Gateway to Space” terminal hangar facility at Spaceport America. (Credit: Bill Gutman/Spaceport America)
A bill designed to shield information about Spaceport America from public scrutiny was approved unanimously by the New Mexico Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday. The vote paves the way for the full Senate to consider the measure.
The bill had been previously approved by the Senate Public Affairs Committee without recommendation. It must pass the Senate and the House before the legislative session ends on Thursday.
The Virgin Galactic Gateway to Space terminal hangar facility (center), Spaceport Operations Center (Left) and “Spaceway”
(Runway) at Spaceport America. (Credit: Bill Gutman/Spaceport America)
by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor
New Mexico legislators are making another attempt to shield the records of the taxpayer-funded Spaceport America from public scrutiny.
A new bill co-sponsored by Senate President Pro Tem Mary Kay Papen (D-Las Cruces) and Sen. William F. Burt (R-Alamogordo) would limit public access to spaceport and customer records across a broad range of categories.
Visitors to Spaceport America will soon be able to imbibe under a law signed by New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez. With commercial spaceflights still a long way off, the cash-strapped New Mexico Spaceport Authority requested a liquor license to expand the number and types of non-aerospace events it can host there. Meanwhile, two measures aimed at encouraging space development in Washington State have fizzled in the Legislature as elected officials […]
SpaceShipTwo, ready for its closeup. (Credit: Douglas Messier)
Ship Entered Inverted Flat Spin
Officials Downplayed Incident at Time
Near Disaster Cancelled Glide Flight at Spaceport America
The SpaceShipTwo vehicle that crashed one year ago nearly met its end three years earlier during a hair-raising flight test that officials at builder Scaled Composites and Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic downplayed at the time, according to documents released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
The Virgin Galactic Gateway to Space terminal hangar facility (center), Spaceport Operations Center (Left) and “Spaceway” (Runway) at Spaceport America. (Credit: Bill Gutman/Spaceport America)
As engineers in Mojave prepared SpaceShipTwo for a glide flight this week, things were coming together at the suborbital vehicle’s future home in New Mexico.
On Tuesday, Gov. Susana Martinez visited Spaceport America to sign legislation that strengthens legal protections for Virgin Galactic, the company that will build and operate SpaceShipTwo vehicles from the $209 million desert facility near Truth or Consequences.
Meanwhile, Virgin Galactic and the New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) appear to have resolved outstanding issues relating to the completion of construction work at the Spaceport.
SPACEPORT AMERICA (Susana Martinez PR) – 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 New Mexico’s Spaceport America remains at the forefront of a nationally-competitive and rapidly-growing commercial space industry.
Texas State Rep. Rene Oliveira has introduced legislation that would allow for the closing of public beaches to accommodate space flight activities. The bill is designed to support operations at the launch facility that SpaceX is considering building near Brownsville. The legislation requires special approval of the General Land Office for any launch dates on: the Saturday or Sunday preceding Memorial Day; Memorial Day July 4 Labor Day a Saturday […]
