New Mexico Spaceport Authority
Encyclopedia
The New Mexico Spaceport Authority is a non-governmental panel, appointed by the Governor of New Mexico, whose members represent the public sector in the development and construction of Spaceport America
, a facility, under construction as of March 2011, that is expected to be the first privately-operated active spaceport
in the United States.
Spaceport America is partly funded by locally generated sales tax
revenues; and United States state and federal income tax
law, as well as the laws and customs that govern the sale of investment bond
s, required that a public authority handle the debt finance of the $209 million project. As of March 2011, it was the current intent of New Mexico that the operations of Spaceport America be overseen by Virgin Galactic
, a component of the Virgin Group
of global companies operated by Sir Richard Branson
. Virgin Galactic's official status is "anchor tenant" of the spaceport.
As of March 2011, the New Mexico Spaceport Authority had not yet actually overseen any launches of spacecraft into sub-orbital spaceflight
or into earth orbit.
In late April 2011, the Authority announced that its budget for fiscal year 2012 had been reduced by 57 percent.
Spaceport America
Spaceport America is a spaceport located in the Jornada del Muerto desert basin in New Mexico, United States. It lies north of El Paso, north of Las Cruces, east of Truth or Consequences...
, a facility, under construction as of March 2011, that is expected to be the first privately-operated active spaceport
Spaceport
A spaceport or cosmodrome is a site for launching spacecraft, by analogy with seaport for ships or airport for aircraft. The word spaceport, and even more so cosmodrome, has traditionally been used for sites capable of launching spacecraft into orbit around Earth or on interplanetary trajectories...
in the United States.
Spaceport America is partly funded by locally generated sales tax
Sales tax
A sales tax is a tax, usually paid by the consumer at the point of purchase, itemized separately from the base price, for certain goods and services. The tax amount is usually calculated by applying a percentage rate to the taxable price of a sale....
revenues; and United States state and federal income tax
Income tax
An income tax is a tax levied on the income of individuals or businesses . Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence. Income taxation can be progressive, proportional, or regressive. When the tax is levied on the income of companies, it is often called a corporate...
law, as well as the laws and customs that govern the sale of investment bond
Bond (finance)
In finance, a bond is a debt security, in which the authorized issuer owes the holders a debt and, depending on the terms of the bond, is obliged to pay interest to use and/or to repay the principal at a later date, termed maturity...
s, required that a public authority handle the debt finance of the $209 million project. As of March 2011, it was the current intent of New Mexico that the operations of Spaceport America be overseen by Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic is a company within Richard Branson's Virgin Group which plans to provide sub-orbital spaceflights to the paying public, along with suborbital space science missions and orbital launches of small satellites...
, a component of the Virgin Group
Virgin Group
Virgin Group Limited is a British branded venture capital conglomerate organisation founded by business tycoon Richard Branson. The core business areas are travel, entertainment and lifestyle. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by Companies House, who class it as a holding...
of global companies operated by Sir Richard Branson
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....
. Virgin Galactic's official status is "anchor tenant" of the spaceport.
Current events
On February 28, 2011, the governor of New Mexico appointed Christine Anderson as executive director of the Spaceport Authority.As of March 2011, the New Mexico Spaceport Authority had not yet actually overseen any launches of spacecraft into sub-orbital spaceflight
Sub-orbital spaceflight
A sub-orbital space flight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so that it does not complete one orbital revolution....
or into earth orbit.
In late April 2011, the Authority announced that its budget for fiscal year 2012 had been reduced by 57 percent.
See also
- California Space AuthorityCalifornia Space AuthorityThe California Space Authority was a nonprofit corporation representing the commercial, civil, and national defense/homeland security interests of California's diverse space enterprise community in four domains: Industry, Government, Academia, and Workforce. CSA was also a participating member in...
- Oklahoma Space Industry Development AuthorityOklahoma Space Industry Development AuthorityThe Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority is a development authority created by the state of Oklahoma to operate a spaceport near Burns Flat, Oklahoma....
- Space FloridaSpace FloridaSpace Florida is the aerospace economic development agency of the state of Florida. The agency was created by consolidating three existing space entities into a single new organization via the The Space Florida Act, enacted in May 2006 by the Florida Legislature...
- Wisconsin Aerospace Authority