ECONOMY
Is Spaceport America primed for a turnaround?
State officials are finding that defense contractors are taking a keen interest in using the aerospace facility
Lieutenant governors from across the nation gathered in New Mexico for the Aerospace States Association鈥檚 34th annual meeting. On Tuesday, they toured Spaceport America in Truth or Consequences.
For two decades, New Mexico has tried to turn the spaceport 鈥� funded by some $4 million in taxpayer dollars annually 鈥� into a cutting-edge center for space tourism. But the commercial space industry has been slow to launch.
And so New Mexico officials are now finding another type of client has taken keen interest in the 18,000-acre campus, which shares airspace with the U.S. military鈥檚 White Sands Missile Range: defense companies and drone manufacturers.
鈥淪paceport finally got noticed in terms of our ability to support lots of defense work,鈥� Scott McLaughlin, executive director of Spaceport America, said in an interview in the lobby of Hotel Albuquerque. 鈥淚 think a few years ago the spaceport wasn鈥檛 seen as a viable spot. I think part of that may have been New Mexico kind of downplaying the success of the spaceport or the potential of the spaceport. But there鈥檚 been a lot of hard work by marketing in recruiting these companies.鈥�
By McLaughlin鈥檚 count, some 24 different companies have used the spaceport. He pointed to Hermeus, a California defense aviation company with a $200 million-plus contract with the Department of War鈥檚 Defense Innovation Unit to demonstrate its uncrewed aircraft can fly at supersonic speeds.
McLaughlin said Hermeus has 40 employees and a food truck set up at the spaceport. Some companies are launching unmanned aerial vehicles that fly at heights of 60,000 feet for days. AeroVironment, another UAV manufacturer, which said in 2024 that it was acquiring BlueHalo, another space defense company, for over $4 billion, 鈥渉as a particularly large version鈥� of such a UAV, McLaughlin said. A smaller startup, Pluto Aerospace, is 鈥渓ooking at actually getting facilities in Las Cruces,鈥� he added.
He said the spaceport has been growing by up to $300,000 annually from tenants other than Virgin Galactic. Virgin Galactic, which has not launched a flight since 2024, reduced the monthly user fees it pays to the spaceport by 73.5% from $188,888 to $50,000, McLaughlin recently told lawmakers.
In the upcoming legislative session, spaceport officials will ask lawmakers for additional funding to hire employees to process new customers.
鈥淲e鈥檙e about topped out in terms of the way our engineers can handle the long process to bring a customer in and make sure they fit, to work out logistics with us, the White Sands Missile Range, the FAA,鈥� he said.
Inside a Hotel Albuquerque conference room Wednesday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who is in her final term, addressed the aerospace industry.
She extolled New Mexico as the birthplace of rockets with some of the 鈥渃learest鈥� unrestricted airspace around the globe.鈥� Addressing the room of industry representatives, the governor said that while the state invests in the high-tech, aerospace and aviation industries, 鈥測ou better build a workforce鈥� for New Mexicans.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a debate every year about whether the economic footprint of the spaceport is enough,鈥� Lujan Grisham said. 鈥淚t has had some really stunning results, and some slow starts. But if you give up on advancements that we know have real meaning for the rest of the world and the 近距离内射合集 States, then we aren鈥檛 doing the work that all of us, I think, have a responsibility to do.鈥�
Lujan Grisham praised the work of Lt. Gov. Howie Morales. In an interview, Morales said other states have taken roughly 20 years to build an effective spaceport.
鈥淲e鈥檙e right around that stage now,鈥� Morales said. 鈥淎nd New Mexico鈥檚 primed to be a leader. Now鈥檚 not the time to take your foot off the gas.鈥�
Justin Horwath covers tech and energy for the Journal. You can reach him at jhorwath@abqjournal.com.
