December 22, 2016: Scientists used the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) radiotelescope in New Mexico and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array in Chile to peer into distant galaxies as they were forming 10 billion years ago. One researcher said this was the most sensitive image ever made with the VLA: "If you took your celphone, which transmits a weak radio signal, and put it at more than twice the distance to Pluto ... its signal would be roughly as strong as what we detected from these galaxies."
December 22: The new SpaceShipTwo, Unity, completed its second free flight.
December 3: Virgin Galactic's new SpaceShipTwo, Unity, successfully completed its first glide test.
November 7: The Mars rover Curiosity used its ChemCam to analyze a "small metallic globule" its camera had detected. The analysis revealed the object is an iron-nickle meteorite. A team at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of New Mexico developed and operate the ChemCam.
October 13: Speaking at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight in Las Cruces, Virgin Galactic President Mike Moses said the new SpaceShipTwo will begin glide flight testing before the end of 2016.
September 27-28: NASA's launched two ballons from its Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. One carried a JPL payload; and the other tested a new balloon film, a new solar power system, a new rotator for orienting payloads, and dozens of small experiments developed by 11- to 18-year-old students.
September 23: The National Science Foundation announced it will provide more than $1 million to keep the Richard B. Dunn Solar Telescope on Sacramento Peak, New Mexico, operating until the end of 2017. After that, it will be operated by a consortium led by New Mexico State University.
September 22: The New Mexico Spaceport Authority selected Daniel Hicks as the new CEO of Spaceport America. For the past 34 years, Hicks has worked his way up from a test conductor within the Materiel Test Directorate at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) to deputy executive director of WSMR. His experience includes both the technical and business sides of space programs.
September 8: Virgin Galactic conducted the first captive-carry test flight of its second SpaceShipTwo. The flight lasted more than three hours.
August 31: The Las Cruces Sun-News reported that the two finalists for Spaceport America CEO are Daniel C. Hicks, the director of plans for White Sands Missile Range, and John E. Williams, the former president and CEO of Universal Space Network. Governor Susana Martinez will make the final selection.
August 15: Spaceport America announced five signature events it will host every year. Dates for the upcoming events are:
>Open House, October 1, 2016.
>Drone Summit, November 11-13, 2016.
>Spaceport America Mile vehicle race co-sponsored by MKM Racing Promotions LLC, March 10-12, 2017.
>Spaceport America Relay Race, 200 miles along the historic El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro trail, ending at the spaceport, co-sponsored by MH Enterprises LLC, April 8-9, 2017.
>Spaceport America Cup, university rocket engineering competition co-sponsored by the Experimental Sounding Rocket Association, June 13-18, 2017.
August 1: Virgin Galactic announced it has received approval from the Office of Commercial Space Transportation in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to begin tests on its new SpaceShipTwo, Unity. Unpowered flight tests are expected to begin later this month, with powered tests coming in 2017.
July 19: Spaceport America Executive Director and CEO Christine Anderson resigned, effective August 19. Good candidates, please step up!
July 8: Virgin Galactic Vice President Jonathan Firth said the company expects to complete ground tests on the new SpaceShipTwo, Unity, in August and begin flight tests.
June 30: Earlier in the week, two dozen high school students visited Spaceport America during their week-long space camp. The Colonel Alvin Drew Space Camp is offered each June by the Gen. Lloyd W. "Fig" Newton Chapter of Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., based at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque.
April 30: Students from the University of Southern California launched their rocket at Spaceport America. It was the 26th unmanned, suborbital launch at New Mexico's spaceport.
April 20: All but one of Virgin Galactic's pilots began a new round of flight testing the mothership, WhiteKnightTwo, at Spaceport America. The tests involved takeoffs and glide landings with the participation of the spaceport's mission control staff and air traffic controlers at White Sands Missile Range and the Albuquerque airport.
April 12: Exos Aerospace announced the first launch of its Sarge rocket will take place at Spaceport America in November 2016. It plans a second flight within 30 days after that, and launch four more times in the following six weeks. Six flights are already scheduled for 2017, and the company plans to ramp up to weekly flights in 2018.
April 10: Richard Branson said the ticket price for a Virgin Galactic suborbital flight will soon go up to $300,000. Reserve now for only $250,000!
April 9: Spaceport America's 25th unmanned, suborbital launch used a rocket designed and built by engineering students at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. The rocket reached an altitude of about 2 miles.
April 7: Boeing received a $2.5-million contract to provide research, engineering, and program management for two US Air Force ground telescopes---one in Hawaii and one at Kirtland Air Force Base's Starfire Optical Range in Albuquerque. The New Mexico facility will be used for experiments and for space situational awareness operations.
April 6: EXOS Aerospace Systems and Technologies has signed a 5-year agreement to launch rockets from Spaceport America. MARS Scientific also plans to se its telescopic spacecraft tracking and imaging systems at the New Mexico spaceport.
March 18: Astronomers used the Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico to get a better-resolution view of the earliest stages of planet formation detected by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile. The target is an almagam of dust forming around the star HL Tau, which is 450 million light-years from Earth.
March 9: Governor Susana Martinez signed legislation allowing the New Mexico Spaceport Authority to apply for a liquor license for Spaceport America. Through a business diversification strategy, Spaceport America is being promoted as an event venue as well as an active spaceport.
February 19: Virgin Galactic displayed its just-completed SpaceShipTwo spaceship, named Unity. Stephen Hawking, who named the new vehicle, will be one of its first passengers. Although it is similar to the original SpaceShip Two, it includes several upgrades including a mechanism that prevents a pilot from rotating the tail stabilisers too early, the error that caused the 2014 accident that destroyed the original spaceship.
January 31: Google is subleasing space in the Terminal/Hangar facility at Spaceport America and has installed support hardware for testing data transmissions with solar-powered drones.
January 14: Ted Turner Expeditions, which provides eco-conscious trips to the media mogul's New Mexico properties, announced a bonus experience available for its tours. The Spaceport America Immersion Excursion allows guests to land at the spaceport by airplane or helicopter and enjoy a tour of the facility. Turner properties include Ladder Ranch Armendaris Ranch, Vermejo Ranch, and Sierra Grande Lodge and Spa.
January 14: Virgin Galactic revealed the design of the space suits its customers will wear aboard SpaceShipTwo. The suits were designed by Adidas.
January 12: The New Mexico Spaceport Authority announced that Virgin Galactic's annual rental fee at Spaceport America will increase from $1 million to $3 million for Fiscal Year 2018.
January 5: Virgin Galactic announced it will roll out its new SpaceShipTwo on February 19.
December 22: The new SpaceShipTwo, Unity, completed its second free flight.
December 3: Virgin Galactic's new SpaceShipTwo, Unity, successfully completed its first glide test.
November 7: The Mars rover Curiosity used its ChemCam to analyze a "small metallic globule" its camera had detected. The analysis revealed the object is an iron-nickle meteorite. A team at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of New Mexico developed and operate the ChemCam.
October 13: Speaking at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight in Las Cruces, Virgin Galactic President Mike Moses said the new SpaceShipTwo will begin glide flight testing before the end of 2016.
September 27-28: NASA's launched two ballons from its Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. One carried a JPL payload; and the other tested a new balloon film, a new solar power system, a new rotator for orienting payloads, and dozens of small experiments developed by 11- to 18-year-old students.
September 23: The National Science Foundation announced it will provide more than $1 million to keep the Richard B. Dunn Solar Telescope on Sacramento Peak, New Mexico, operating until the end of 2017. After that, it will be operated by a consortium led by New Mexico State University.
September 22: The New Mexico Spaceport Authority selected Daniel Hicks as the new CEO of Spaceport America. For the past 34 years, Hicks has worked his way up from a test conductor within the Materiel Test Directorate at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) to deputy executive director of WSMR. His experience includes both the technical and business sides of space programs.
September 8: Virgin Galactic conducted the first captive-carry test flight of its second SpaceShipTwo. The flight lasted more than three hours.
August 31: The Las Cruces Sun-News reported that the two finalists for Spaceport America CEO are Daniel C. Hicks, the director of plans for White Sands Missile Range, and John E. Williams, the former president and CEO of Universal Space Network. Governor Susana Martinez will make the final selection.
August 15: Spaceport America announced five signature events it will host every year. Dates for the upcoming events are:
>Open House, October 1, 2016.
>Drone Summit, November 11-13, 2016.
>Spaceport America Mile vehicle race co-sponsored by MKM Racing Promotions LLC, March 10-12, 2017.
>Spaceport America Relay Race, 200 miles along the historic El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro trail, ending at the spaceport, co-sponsored by MH Enterprises LLC, April 8-9, 2017.
>Spaceport America Cup, university rocket engineering competition co-sponsored by the Experimental Sounding Rocket Association, June 13-18, 2017.
August 1: Virgin Galactic announced it has received approval from the Office of Commercial Space Transportation in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to begin tests on its new SpaceShipTwo, Unity. Unpowered flight tests are expected to begin later this month, with powered tests coming in 2017.
July 19: Spaceport America Executive Director and CEO Christine Anderson resigned, effective August 19. Good candidates, please step up!
July 8: Virgin Galactic Vice President Jonathan Firth said the company expects to complete ground tests on the new SpaceShipTwo, Unity, in August and begin flight tests.
June 30: Earlier in the week, two dozen high school students visited Spaceport America during their week-long space camp. The Colonel Alvin Drew Space Camp is offered each June by the Gen. Lloyd W. "Fig" Newton Chapter of Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., based at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque.
April 30: Students from the University of Southern California launched their rocket at Spaceport America. It was the 26th unmanned, suborbital launch at New Mexico's spaceport.
April 20: All but one of Virgin Galactic's pilots began a new round of flight testing the mothership, WhiteKnightTwo, at Spaceport America. The tests involved takeoffs and glide landings with the participation of the spaceport's mission control staff and air traffic controlers at White Sands Missile Range and the Albuquerque airport.
April 12: Exos Aerospace announced the first launch of its Sarge rocket will take place at Spaceport America in November 2016. It plans a second flight within 30 days after that, and launch four more times in the following six weeks. Six flights are already scheduled for 2017, and the company plans to ramp up to weekly flights in 2018.
April 10: Richard Branson said the ticket price for a Virgin Galactic suborbital flight will soon go up to $300,000. Reserve now for only $250,000!
April 9: Spaceport America's 25th unmanned, suborbital launch used a rocket designed and built by engineering students at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. The rocket reached an altitude of about 2 miles.
April 7: Boeing received a $2.5-million contract to provide research, engineering, and program management for two US Air Force ground telescopes---one in Hawaii and one at Kirtland Air Force Base's Starfire Optical Range in Albuquerque. The New Mexico facility will be used for experiments and for space situational awareness operations.
April 6: EXOS Aerospace Systems and Technologies has signed a 5-year agreement to launch rockets from Spaceport America. MARS Scientific also plans to se its telescopic spacecraft tracking and imaging systems at the New Mexico spaceport.
March 18: Astronomers used the Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico to get a better-resolution view of the earliest stages of planet formation detected by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile. The target is an almagam of dust forming around the star HL Tau, which is 450 million light-years from Earth.
March 9: Governor Susana Martinez signed legislation allowing the New Mexico Spaceport Authority to apply for a liquor license for Spaceport America. Through a business diversification strategy, Spaceport America is being promoted as an event venue as well as an active spaceport.
February 19: Virgin Galactic displayed its just-completed SpaceShipTwo spaceship, named Unity. Stephen Hawking, who named the new vehicle, will be one of its first passengers. Although it is similar to the original SpaceShip Two, it includes several upgrades including a mechanism that prevents a pilot from rotating the tail stabilisers too early, the error that caused the 2014 accident that destroyed the original spaceship.
January 31: Google is subleasing space in the Terminal/Hangar facility at Spaceport America and has installed support hardware for testing data transmissions with solar-powered drones.
January 14: Ted Turner Expeditions, which provides eco-conscious trips to the media mogul's New Mexico properties, announced a bonus experience available for its tours. The Spaceport America Immersion Excursion allows guests to land at the spaceport by airplane or helicopter and enjoy a tour of the facility. Turner properties include Ladder Ranch Armendaris Ranch, Vermejo Ranch, and Sierra Grande Lodge and Spa.
January 14: Virgin Galactic revealed the design of the space suits its customers will wear aboard SpaceShipTwo. The suits were designed by Adidas.
January 12: The New Mexico Spaceport Authority announced that Virgin Galactic's annual rental fee at Spaceport America will increase from $1 million to $3 million for Fiscal Year 2018.
January 5: Virgin Galactic announced it will roll out its new SpaceShipTwo on February 19.
New Mexico's 2015 Space News Archives
New Mexico Space News 2016 Archives
December 22, 2016: Scientists used the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) radiotelescope in New Mexico and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array in Chile to peer into distant galaxies as they were forming 10 billion years ago. One researcher said this was the most sensitive image ever made with the VLA: "If you took your celphone, which transmits a weak radio signal, and put it at more than twice the distance to Pluto ... its signal would be roughly as strong as what we detected from these galaxies."
December 22: The new SpaceShipTwo, Unity, completed its second free flight.
December 3: Virgin Galactic's new SpaceShipTwo, Unity, successfully completed its first glide test.
November 7: The Mars rover Curiosity used its ChemCam to analyze a "small metallic globule" its camera had detected. The analysis revealed the object is an iron-nickle meteorite. A team at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of New Mexico developed and operate the ChemCam.
October 13: Speaking at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight in Las Cruces, Virgin Galactic President Mike Moses said the new SpaceShipTwo will begin glide flight testing before the end of 2016.
September 27-28: NASA's launched two ballons from its Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. One carried a JPL payload; and the other tested a new balloon film, a new solar power system, a new rotator for orienting payloads, and dozens of small experiments developed by 11- to 18-year-old students.
September 23: The National Science Foundation announced it will provide more than $1 million to keep the Richard B. Dunn Solar Telescope on Sacramento Peak, New Mexico, operating until the end of 2017. After that, it will be operated by a consortium led by New Mexico State University.
September 22: The New Mexico Spaceport Authority selected Daniel Hicks as the new CEO of Spaceport America. For the past 34 years, Hicks has worked his way up from a test conductor within the Materiel Test Directorate at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) to deputy executive director of WSMR. His experience includes both the technical and business sides of space programs.
September 8: Virgin Galactic conducted the first captive-carry test flight of its second SpaceShipTwo. The flight lasted more than three hours.
August 31: The Las Cruces Sun-News reported that the two finalists for Spaceport America CEO are Daniel C. Hicks, the director of plans for White Sands Missile Range, and John E. Williams, the former president and CEO of Universal Space Network. Governor Susana Martinez will make the final selection.
August 15: Spaceport America announced five signature events it will host every year. Dates for the upcoming events are:
>Open House, October 1, 2016.
>Drone Summit, November 11-13, 2016.
>Spaceport America Mile vehicle race co-sponsored by MKM Racing Promotions LLC, March 10-12, 2017.
>Spaceport America Relay Race, 200 miles along the historic El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro trail, ending at the spaceport, co-sponsored by MH Enterprises LLC, April 8-9, 2017.
>Spaceport America Cup, university rocket engineering competition co-sponsored by the Experimental Sounding Rocket Association, June 13-18, 2017.
August 1: Virgin Galactic announced it has received approval from the Office of Commercial Space Transportation in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to begin tests on its new SpaceShipTwo, Unity. Unpowered flight tests are expected to begin later this month, with powered tests coming in 2017.
July 19: Spaceport America Executive Director and CEO Christine Anderson resigned, effective August 19. Good candidates, please step up!
July 8: Virgin Galactic Vice President Jonathan Firth said the company expects to complete ground tests on the new SpaceShipTwo, Unity, in August and begin flight tests.
June 30: Earlier in the week, two dozen high school students visited Spaceport America during their week-long space camp. The Colonel Alvin Drew Space Camp is offered each June by the Gen. Lloyd W. "Fig" Newton Chapter of Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., based at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque.
April 30: Students from the University of Southern California launched their rocket at Spaceport America. It was the 26th unmanned, suborbital launch at New Mexico's spaceport.
April 20: All but one of Virgin Galactic's pilots began a new round of flight testing the mothership, WhiteKnightTwo, at Spaceport America. The tests involved takeoffs and glide landings with the participation of the spaceport's mission control staff and air traffic controlers at White Sands Missile Range and the Albuquerque airport.
April 12: Exos Aerospace announced the first launch of its Sarge rocket will take place at Spaceport America in November 2016. It plans a second flight within 30 days after that, and launch four more times in the following six weeks. Six flights are already scheduled for 2017, and the company plans to ramp up to weekly flights in 2018.
April 10: Richard Branson said the ticket price for a Virgin Galactic suborbital flight will soon go up to $300,000. Reserve now for only $250,000!
April 9: Spaceport America's 25th unmanned, suborbital launch used a rocket designed and built by engineering students at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. The rocket reached an altitude of about 2 miles.
April 7: Boeing received a $2.5-million contract to provide research, engineering, and program management for two US Air Force ground telescopes---one in Hawaii and one at Kirtland Air Force Base's Starfire Optical Range in Albuquerque. The New Mexico facility will be used for experiments and for space situational awareness operations.
April 6: EXOS Aerospace Systems and Technologies has signed a 5-year agreement to launch rockets from Spaceport America. MARS Scientific also plans to se its telescopic spacecraft tracking and imaging systems at the New Mexico spaceport.
March 18: Astronomers used the Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico to get a better-resolution view of the earliest stages of planet formation detected by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile. The target is an almagam of dust forming around the star HL Tau, which is 450 million light-years from Earth.
March 9: Governor Susana Martinez signed legislation allowing the New Mexico Spaceport Authority to apply for a liquor license for Spaceport America. Through a business diversification strategy, Spaceport America is being promoted as an event venue as well as an active spaceport.
February 19: Virgin Galactic displayed its just-completed SpaceShipTwo spaceship, named Unity. Stephen Hawking, who named the new vehicle, will be one of its first passengers. Although it is similar to the original SpaceShip Two, it includes several upgrades including a mechanism that prevents a pilot from rotating the tail stabilisers too early, the error that caused the 2014 accident that destroyed the original spaceship.
January 31: Google is subleasing space in the Terminal/Hangar facility at Spaceport America and has installed support hardware for testing data transmissions with solar-powered drones.
January 14: Ted Turner Expeditions, which provides eco-conscious trips to the media mogul's New Mexico properties, announced a bonus experience available for its tours. The Spaceport America Immersion Excursion allows guests to land at the spaceport by airplane or helicopter and enjoy a tour of the facility. Turner properties include Ladder Ranch Armendaris Ranch, Vermejo Ranch, and Sierra Grande Lodge and Spa.
January 14: Virgin Galactic revealed the design of the space suits its customers will wear aboard SpaceShipTwo. The suits were designed by Adidas.
January 12: The New Mexico Spaceport Authority announced that Virgin Galactic's annual rental fee at Spaceport America will increase from $1 million to $3 million for Fiscal Year 2018.
January 5: Virgin Galactic announced it will roll out its new SpaceShipTwo on February 19.
December 22: The new SpaceShipTwo, Unity, completed its second free flight.
December 3: Virgin Galactic's new SpaceShipTwo, Unity, successfully completed its first glide test.
November 7: The Mars rover Curiosity used its ChemCam to analyze a "small metallic globule" its camera had detected. The analysis revealed the object is an iron-nickle meteorite. A team at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of New Mexico developed and operate the ChemCam.
October 13: Speaking at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight in Las Cruces, Virgin Galactic President Mike Moses said the new SpaceShipTwo will begin glide flight testing before the end of 2016.
September 27-28: NASA's launched two ballons from its Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. One carried a JPL payload; and the other tested a new balloon film, a new solar power system, a new rotator for orienting payloads, and dozens of small experiments developed by 11- to 18-year-old students.
September 23: The National Science Foundation announced it will provide more than $1 million to keep the Richard B. Dunn Solar Telescope on Sacramento Peak, New Mexico, operating until the end of 2017. After that, it will be operated by a consortium led by New Mexico State University.
September 22: The New Mexico Spaceport Authority selected Daniel Hicks as the new CEO of Spaceport America. For the past 34 years, Hicks has worked his way up from a test conductor within the Materiel Test Directorate at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) to deputy executive director of WSMR. His experience includes both the technical and business sides of space programs.
September 8: Virgin Galactic conducted the first captive-carry test flight of its second SpaceShipTwo. The flight lasted more than three hours.
August 31: The Las Cruces Sun-News reported that the two finalists for Spaceport America CEO are Daniel C. Hicks, the director of plans for White Sands Missile Range, and John E. Williams, the former president and CEO of Universal Space Network. Governor Susana Martinez will make the final selection.
August 15: Spaceport America announced five signature events it will host every year. Dates for the upcoming events are:
>Open House, October 1, 2016.
>Drone Summit, November 11-13, 2016.
>Spaceport America Mile vehicle race co-sponsored by MKM Racing Promotions LLC, March 10-12, 2017.
>Spaceport America Relay Race, 200 miles along the historic El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro trail, ending at the spaceport, co-sponsored by MH Enterprises LLC, April 8-9, 2017.
>Spaceport America Cup, university rocket engineering competition co-sponsored by the Experimental Sounding Rocket Association, June 13-18, 2017.
August 1: Virgin Galactic announced it has received approval from the Office of Commercial Space Transportation in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to begin tests on its new SpaceShipTwo, Unity. Unpowered flight tests are expected to begin later this month, with powered tests coming in 2017.
July 19: Spaceport America Executive Director and CEO Christine Anderson resigned, effective August 19. Good candidates, please step up!
July 8: Virgin Galactic Vice President Jonathan Firth said the company expects to complete ground tests on the new SpaceShipTwo, Unity, in August and begin flight tests.
June 30: Earlier in the week, two dozen high school students visited Spaceport America during their week-long space camp. The Colonel Alvin Drew Space Camp is offered each June by the Gen. Lloyd W. "Fig" Newton Chapter of Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., based at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque.
April 30: Students from the University of Southern California launched their rocket at Spaceport America. It was the 26th unmanned, suborbital launch at New Mexico's spaceport.
April 20: All but one of Virgin Galactic's pilots began a new round of flight testing the mothership, WhiteKnightTwo, at Spaceport America. The tests involved takeoffs and glide landings with the participation of the spaceport's mission control staff and air traffic controlers at White Sands Missile Range and the Albuquerque airport.
April 12: Exos Aerospace announced the first launch of its Sarge rocket will take place at Spaceport America in November 2016. It plans a second flight within 30 days after that, and launch four more times in the following six weeks. Six flights are already scheduled for 2017, and the company plans to ramp up to weekly flights in 2018.
April 10: Richard Branson said the ticket price for a Virgin Galactic suborbital flight will soon go up to $300,000. Reserve now for only $250,000!
April 9: Spaceport America's 25th unmanned, suborbital launch used a rocket designed and built by engineering students at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. The rocket reached an altitude of about 2 miles.
April 7: Boeing received a $2.5-million contract to provide research, engineering, and program management for two US Air Force ground telescopes---one in Hawaii and one at Kirtland Air Force Base's Starfire Optical Range in Albuquerque. The New Mexico facility will be used for experiments and for space situational awareness operations.
April 6: EXOS Aerospace Systems and Technologies has signed a 5-year agreement to launch rockets from Spaceport America. MARS Scientific also plans to se its telescopic spacecraft tracking and imaging systems at the New Mexico spaceport.
March 18: Astronomers used the Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico to get a better-resolution view of the earliest stages of planet formation detected by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile. The target is an almagam of dust forming around the star HL Tau, which is 450 million light-years from Earth.
March 9: Governor Susana Martinez signed legislation allowing the New Mexico Spaceport Authority to apply for a liquor license for Spaceport America. Through a business diversification strategy, Spaceport America is being promoted as an event venue as well as an active spaceport.
February 19: Virgin Galactic displayed its just-completed SpaceShipTwo spaceship, named Unity. Stephen Hawking, who named the new vehicle, will be one of its first passengers. Although it is similar to the original SpaceShip Two, it includes several upgrades including a mechanism that prevents a pilot from rotating the tail stabilisers too early, the error that caused the 2014 accident that destroyed the original spaceship.
January 31: Google is subleasing space in the Terminal/Hangar facility at Spaceport America and has installed support hardware for testing data transmissions with solar-powered drones.
January 14: Ted Turner Expeditions, which provides eco-conscious trips to the media mogul's New Mexico properties, announced a bonus experience available for its tours. The Spaceport America Immersion Excursion allows guests to land at the spaceport by airplane or helicopter and enjoy a tour of the facility. Turner properties include Ladder Ranch Armendaris Ranch, Vermejo Ranch, and Sierra Grande Lodge and Spa.
January 14: Virgin Galactic revealed the design of the space suits its customers will wear aboard SpaceShipTwo. The suits were designed by Adidas.
January 12: The New Mexico Spaceport Authority announced that Virgin Galactic's annual rental fee at Spaceport America will increase from $1 million to $3 million for Fiscal Year 2018.
January 5: Virgin Galactic announced it will roll out its new SpaceShipTwo on February 19.
Photo Credits
Robert Goddard towing one of his rockets to the launch site near Roswell about 1931, courtesy of NASA.
WhiteKnightTwo carrying SpaceShipTwo at Spaceport America runway dedication flyover, photo by Loretta Hall.
Robert Goddard towing one of his rockets to the launch site near Roswell about 1931, courtesy of NASA.
WhiteKnightTwo carrying SpaceShipTwo at Spaceport America runway dedication flyover, photo by Loretta Hall.
Photo Credits
Robert Goddard towing one of his rockets to the launch site near Roswell about 1931, courtesy of NASA.
WhiteKnightTwo carrying SpaceShipTwo at Spaceport America runway dedication flyover, photo by Loretta Hall.
Unless otherwise credited, all material on this site is © Loretta Hall 2010-2017.
Robert Goddard towing one of his rockets to the launch site near Roswell about 1931, courtesy of NASA.
WhiteKnightTwo carrying SpaceShipTwo at Spaceport America runway dedication flyover, photo by Loretta Hall.
Unless otherwise credited, all material on this site is © Loretta Hall 2010-2017.
Unless otherwise credited, all material on this site is © Loretta Hall 2010-2017.