Spaceport America facing setbacks in one area and progress in another

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The Spaceport America project has entered the final phase of construction in the desert of Southern New Mexico.

$1.13 million dollars in new contracts were approved last week to complete the last construction phase.

Spaceport Director Christine Anderson says phase one was most of the buildings and operation center as well as the ten thousand foot runway. The next phase includes visitor experience.  

Anderson-“We really built a whole small city out there. It is a pretty remote location and you want that for a spaceport, but to do that you have to run power and water and it’s taken quite a bit of engineering to get that done. We are about to kick off phase two and that is visitor experience, so when folks come out to the spaceport and they aren’t as lucky to get a ride on a spacecraft they’ll still be able to enjoy space. There is lots of things to do for kids and families.”  

At a recent symposium and expo Spaceport officials said they are anxiously awaiting the day when suborbital flights will begin, but as of yet there is no set date.

This is due to the fact that construction is not yet complete and they don’t want engineers to rush the work and some attribute the delay to anxiety of New Mexico law.

The New Mexico Legislature has enacted law that provides informed consent to operators, such as Virgin Galactic. However, similar legislation that would have also applied to suppliers of commercial spaceflight companies never got out of legislative committees.

New Mexico Lt. Governor John Sanchez says there must be continued effort to change the law for the success of the space industry in the state.

Sanchez- “The informed consent law is a common sense piece of legislation that will allow the spaceport to flourish. It’s being blocked by the Democrats in the NM state legislature. IT would allow the spaceport to compete and what’s happening is we are losing out already to other states that have an informed consent law on the books and the spaceport is in risk.”

Sanchez says the spaceport needs to be fully maximized to provide high paying jobs and make a significant impact on the state’s economy. Sanchez says it is worth $209 million dollars of New Mexico tax dollars.

The legislature meets for a sixty day session in January and Senator Mary Kay Papen says the bill is already prepared and will again be considered.

For Newsbreak New Mexico, I’m Vanessa Dabovich. 

Spaceport America facing setbacks in one area and progress in another