By KRWG News
Las Cruces – The New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) Board of Directors has unanimously approved plans developed by the NMSA staff for a vertical launch complex.
The approved $3 million complex is part of the spaceport's Phase Two construction that will include a new, larger vertical launch pad with a launch rail, large roll-back building, a launch control building, a payload integration building, and a state-of-the-art microwave communication system along with permanent electrical power, a wastewater system and improved roads to the spaceport's vertical launch complex area.
Spaceport America has also recently received a federal grant to help fund some of this new infrastructure. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grant is worth $249,378 toward the cost of the roll-back vehicle integration building at Spaceport America's Vertical Launch complex.
In 2010, Spaceport America received its first federal grant from a newly funded spaceport infrastructure program from the FAA. The funding provided $43,000 from the FAA, which was matched with $4,300 from Virgin Galactic that allowed for the acquisition of an Automated Weather Observation System III (AWOS III).
Spaceport America has been providing commercial launch services since 2006. Phase One of the construction for the spaceport is expected to be complete by the end of 2011. Phase Two of the construction and pre-operations activities will follow, including the development of a world-class Visitor Experience for students, tourists and space launch customers, the vertical launch complex improvements and the paving of the southern road to the spaceport. When Phase Two construction is completed in 2013, Spaceport America will become fully operational.
Officials at Spaceport America have been working closely with entrepreneurial space leaders like UP Aerospace, Virgin Galactic, and Armadillo Aerospace, as well as established aerospace firms like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and MOOG-FTS to develop commercial spaceflight at the new facility. The economic impact of launches, tourism and new construction at Spaceport America are already delivering on the promise of economic development to the people of New Mexico.