Spaceport America – Through the Door, Needs More

As the world’s first purpose-build commercial spaceport founded in 2005 and officially declared open in 2011, Spaceport America has certainly gotten a bloody nose or two during its 18 years of construction and operation in New Mexico. Anchor tenant Virgin Galactic didn’t start suborbital operations at the facility until 2020 and is currently on hiatus while it builds a more reliable Delta-class spacecraft to increase flight rates. State and local politicians have been unhappy about the delays, overall management of the facility, and having to make up operational costs, according to the New York Times.  

On the plus side of the ledger, Spaceport America has attracted needed visitors and jobs to some of the poorest counties in the country in the third-poorest state of the nation. With $220 million of state and local tax dollars invested into the facility so far, Spaceport America has created around 800 jobs total; in 2022, generated $138 million in economic impact along with over $10 million tax dollars to Sierra and Dona Ana counties; and serves as a local and worldwide STEM destination by hosting the annual Spaceport America Cup for intercollegiate rocketry.  

While Virgin Galactic has received most of the attention, other tenants include three High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) operators, suborbital launch firm Up Aerospace, and upstart startup SpinLaunch with its scary-cool centrifuge launch system it is perfecting on the southern-most part of the facility. 

It all sounds good, but more is needed: more services, more customers, and more infrastructure. Spaceport America officials are working to secure a re-entry license in the near term, enabling the port to take advantage of the growing need to bring back experiments and products produced in orbit, such as pharmaceuticals, biologics, and low-defect fiber optic cable. Down the road, the facility would like to extend beyond sub-orbital flights and conduct orbital launches from its vertical range.  

Spaceport America’s dependence upon Virgin Galactic is recognized by officials as a clear vulnerability, so adding re-entry and orbital customers would provide much-needed revenue diversity and expansion even as it pursues more customers willing to take advantage of its remote location, 18,000 acres of open land, and the adjoining 6,000 square miles of White Sands restricted airspace. One possibility, taking advantage of the 340 plus days of sunshine in the region, would be a solar farm that could provide grid-independence for the facility and a revenue stream for the surplus of electricity. 

Adding available electricity would be one step to support more customers and their various needs. The state has committed $18 million for construction of STARK, a multipurpose building that will reside outside of the airfield security perimeter by the security gate, to support STEM and other public activities, but more activity will lead to demand for more and better services over the long term. Anyone who has driven to Spaceport America can understand the need for widened and potentially straighter roads between I-25 and the facility to make future construction and daily commuting faster.  

But the state and local governments aren’t going to fund infrastructure improvements without more customers creating more jobs and paying more taxes. Crossing that chasm will require the federal government to provide incentives and contracts for more businesses to become Spaceport America users and consider a more holistic approach to fostering growth of spaceports around the country. There will be more punches thrown on Capitol Hill and in the executive branch in the years to come before anyone is happy with either Spaceport America as a standalone facility or as a part of a growing network of spaceports throughout the country.