New Mexico's 2020 Space News Archives
New Mexico Space  News 2020 Archives
March 16: C6 Launch Systems symbolically inaugurated its new rocket test platform at Spaceport America by launching a small rocket. The company will begin actual rocket engine testing on the facility next week.

February 19: Technologies developed for space exploration have found many applications for down-to-Earth humans for decades. An Albuquerque company is developing a crop-boosting agricultural technology for use on long-duration space voyages.

February 1: Virgin Galactic announced that its next powered test flight to space will take place in a window starting February 13 at Spaceport America.

December 16: California-based SpinLaunch announced it will be expanding its operations and facilities at Spaceport America over the next 10 years. The company plans to have a permanent presence at the facility and begin test launches in 2021.

December 11: Virgin Galactic's test flight from Spaceport America was aborted shortly after SpaceShipTwo's engine ignited. The engine was not at fault. The loss of a monitoring computer connection to the engine triggered an automatic shutdown. The safety system worked as designed.

November 30: NASA announced it has selected Virgin Galactic as one of two companies to provide flight and integration services for payloads chosen by the agency's Flight Opportunities program in contracts running through July 31, 2023.

November 17: Stratodynamics Inc. and researchers from the University of Kentucky announced they will be conducting tests of equipment to detect atmospheric turbulence at Spaceport America for two weeks in early December. Validation of the technology is a NASA Flight Opportunities project.

November 3: A new Deployable Structures Laboratory is opening at the Air Force Research Laboratory's Space Vehicles Directorate at Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque. The facility can test small to large satellites, advanced composite materials, and structures in a secure, climate-controlled, vibration-isolated lab.

October 27: Virgin Galactic has hired two additional pilots to train for flying its mothership and spaceship at Spaceport America, its base of operations.

October 14: The Experimental Sounding Rocket Association (ESRA) and the Tripoli Rocketry Association (TRA) have signed an agreement to work with Spaceport America to continue to improve overall flight safety and efficient flight operations at the Spaceport America Cup.

October 12: C6 Launch Systems, which builds rockets designed to launch small satellites, will begin testing integration of its launch system components at Spaceport America in January 2021. Its work at the spaceport will begin with building a new test stand at the facility's vertical launch site.

September 19: New Mexico State University's Atomic Aggies team performed two successful rocket launches at Spaceport America. The team-built rocket, "Archangel" carried an 8.8-pound CubeSat chile growing chamber to a height of 8,333 feet. The other rocket was designed and built solely by Scott Komar for his National Association of Rocketry Level 3 certification.

September 18: The Air Force Research Laboratory's (AFRL) Space Vehicles Directorate at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque announced that three software and hardware innovations developed there have been integrated into NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover and its flight companion, a 4-pound Mars Helicopter named Ingenuity.

September 15: A developer for the Midland International Air and Space Port announced that a demonstration round-trip point-to-point spaceflight between Spaceport America and the Texas facility may happen next year.

September 6: Virgin Galactic announced its next test flight of SpaceShipTwo will take place at Spaceport America on or shortly after October 22, 2020.

July 23: The HAWK30, a solar-powered high-altitude "cell tower in the sky" made its first test flight at Spaceport America. Testing of the new communications glider will continue at the $8-million facility constructed  at the spaceport by its developer. The company now has 35 employees working in the area to support the program.

July 20: Data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey's (SDSS's) most recent project has enabled astrophysicists to create the largest-ever 3-D map of the Universe. Data collection was accomplished during a six-year period at the Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico and the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile (the country, not the pepper). Both observatories have similar 2.5-meter telescopes and are gearing up for the next phase of the SDSS.

June 25: Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, Unity, completed its second glide test at Spaceport America. This was a higher speed test than the previous glide test at the spaceport, this one reaching Mach 0.85. Unity is now ready to begin powered test flights at Spaceport America, which is at a higher elevation than the previous test site at Mojave, California.

June 22: Virgin Galactic signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA's Johnson Space Center to develop a "private orbital astronaut readiness program" that would handle various aspects of flying private individuals to the station, including identifying potential customers, handling training, and arranging with third parties for transportation to the station.

June 21: Boeing conducted a successful test of the parachute system on its Starliner crew capsule at White Sands Space Harbor.

June 13: Four pilots took Virgin Galactic's mothership, VMS Eve, on two proficiency flights at Spaceport America.

June 12: Spaceport America announced that HAPSMobile, Inc., has signed on to flight test its high-altitude, pseudo satellite, the HAWK30, at the spaceport. HAWK30 is a solar-powered flying wing vehicle designed to stay aloft for 6 months at 65,000 feet altitude to serve as an alternative to cell towers and communications satellites.

May 1: Virgin Galactic successfully completed the first glide test at Spaceport America of its SpaceShipTwo, VSS Unity. The spacecraft was released from its mothership at an altitude of 50,000 feet and reached an unpowered speed of Mach 0.7 before gliding in for a smooth landing on the spaceport's runway.

February 15: The SETI Institute is beginning to develop hardware and software to install in the Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico to piggyback on the VLA's normal observations for other scientists. SETI is the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Operations will begin in late 2021.

February 13: Virgin Galactic's spaceship Unity arrived at its new home, Spaceport America in southern New Mexico. Following some additional test flights, commercial operations will begin at the spaceport.

January 30: Spaceport America announced two new tennants coming in 2020. TMD Defense and Space will begin testing ballistic missiles there this fall. White Sands Research and Developers will develop a payload testing station at the spaceport as well as making the facility its home base for rocket launches.

January 29: NASA is opening its Flight Opportunities program to allowing researchers to ride along with their experiments on high-altitude balloons (such as those launched from Fort Sumner, New Mexico) and reusable suborbital vehicles including Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo (which will fly from Spaceport America).

January 25: After two years of testing, a new tool is ready to start investigating the atmospheres of planets outside our solar system. NESSI (the New Mexico Exoplanet Spectroscopic Survey Instrument) was developed by the New Mexico Tech university and JPL. It is mounted on the 200-inch Hale Telescope at Palomar Observatory in California.

January 16: SpinLaunch raised $35 million (in addition to an earlier $45 million) to fund development of its innovative kinetic launch system. Part of the new funds will be used to complete its flight test facility at Spaceport America in New Mexico. The company plans its first flight test later this year, with commercial launches beginning in 2022 if all goes well.

January 1: New Mexico astronomer Alan Hale (of Comet Hale-Bopp fame) started a weekly online educational site called Ice and Stone 2020. Each week's posting features a look back at "This Week in History," a "Comet of the Week," and a "Special Topic" related to small extraterrestrial bodies. RocketSTEM mirrors Hale's weekly postings with two additions: downloadable educational resources and the ability to sign up for emails to let you know when weekly posts are online (a handy reminder so you don't forget to check out the new information).
December 16: California-based SpinLaunch announced it will be expanding its operations and facilities at Spaceport America over the next 10 years. The company plans to have a permanent presence at the facility and begin test launches in 2021.

December 11: Virgin Galactic's test flight from Spaceport America was aborted shortly after SpaceShipTwo's engine ignited. The engine was not at fault. The loss of a monitoring computer connection to the engine triggered an automatic shutdown. The safety system worked as designed.

November 30: NASA announced it has selected Virgin Galactic as one of two companies to provide flight and integration services for payloads chosen by the agency's Flight Opportunities program in contracts running through July 31, 2023.

November 17: Stratodynamics Inc. and researchers from the University of Kentucky announced they will be conducting tests of equipment to detect atmospheric turbulence at Spaceport America for two weeks in early December. Validation of the technology is a NASA Flight Opportunities project.

November 3: A new Deployable Structures Laboratory is opening at the Air Force Research Laboratory's Space Vehicles Directorate at Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque. The facility can test small to large satellites, advanced composite materials, and structures in a secure, climate-controlled, vibration-isolated lab.

October 27: Virgin Galactic has hired two additional pilots to train for flying its mothership and spaceship at Spaceport America, its base of operations.

October 14: The Experimental Sounding Rocket Association (ESRA) and the Tripoli Rocketry Association (TRA) have signed an agreement to work with Spaceport America to continue to improve overall flight safety and efficient flight operations at the Spaceport America Cup.

October 12: C6 Launch Systems, which builds rockets designed to launch small satellites, will begin testing integration of its launch system components at Spaceport America in January 2021. Its work at the spaceport will begin with building a new test stand at the facility's vertical launch site.

November 30: NASA announced it has selected Virgin Galactic as one of two companies to provide flight and integration services for payloads chosen by the agency's Flight Opportunities program in contracts running through July 31, 2023.

November 17: Stratodynamics Inc. and researchers from the University of Kentucky announced they will be conducting tests of equipment to detect atmospheric turbulence at Spaceport America for two weeks in early December. Validation of the technology is a NASA Flight Opportunities project.

November 3: A new Deployable Structures Laboratory is opening at the Air Force Research Laboratory's Space Vehicles Directorate at Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque. The facility can test small to large satellites, advanced composite materials, and structures in a secure, climate-controlled, vibration-isolated lab.

October 27: Virgin Galactic has hired two additional pilots to train for flying its mothership and spaceship at Spaceport America, its base of operations.

October 14: The Experimental Sounding Rocket Association (ESRA) and the Tripoli Rocketry Association (TRA) have signed an agreement to work with Spaceport America to continue to improve overall flight safety and efficient flight operations at the Spaceport America Cup.

October 12: C6 Launch Systems, which builds rockets designed to launch small satellites, will begin testing integration of its launch system components at Spaceport America in January 2021. Its work at the spaceport will begin with building a new test stand at the facility's vertical launch site.
September 19: New Mexico State University's Atomic Aggies team performed two successful rocket launches at Spaceport America. The team-built rocket, "Archangel" carried an 8.8-pound CubeSat chile growing chamber to a height of 8,333 feet. The other rocket was designed and built solely by Scott Komar for his National Association of Rocketry Level 3 certification.

September 18: The Air Force Research Laboratory's (AFRL) Space Vehicles Directorate at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque announced that three software and hardware innovations developed there have been integrated into NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover and its flight companion, a 4-pound Mars Helicopter named Ingenuity.

September 15: A developer for the Midland International Air and Space Port announced that a demonstration round-trip point-to-point spaceflight between Spaceport America and the Texas facility may happen next year.

September 6: Virgin Galactic announced its next test flight of SpaceShipTwo will take place at Spaceport America on or shortly after October 22, 2020.

July 23: The HAWK30, a solar-powered high-altitude "cell tower in the sky" made its first test flight at Spaceport America. Testing of the new communications glider will continue at the $8-million facility constructed  at the spaceport by its developer. The company now has 35 employees working in the area to support the program.

July 20: Data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey's (SDSS's) most recent project has enabled astrophysicists to create the largest-ever 3-D map of the Universe. Data collection was accomplished during a six-year period at the Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico and the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile (the country, not the pepper). Both observatories have similar 2.5-meter telescopes and are gearing up for the next phase of the SDSS.

June 25: Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, Unity, completed its second glide test at Spaceport America. This was a higher speed test than the previous glide test at the spaceport, this one reaching Mach 0.85. Unity is now ready to begin powered test flights at Spaceport America, which is at a higher elevation than the previous test site at Mojave, California.

June 22: Virgin Galactic signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA's Johnson Space Center to develop a "private orbital astronaut readiness program" that would handle various aspects of flying private individuals to the station, including identifying potential customers, handling training, and arranging with third parties for transportation to the station.

June 21: Boeing conducted a successful test of the parachute system on its Starliner crew capsule at White Sands Space Harbor.

June 13: Four pilots took Virgin Galactic's mothership, VMS Eve, on two proficiency flights at Spaceport America.

June 12: Spaceport America announced that HAPSMobile, Inc., has signed on to flight test its high-altitude, pseudo satellite, the HAWK30, at the spaceport. HAWK30 is a solar-powered flying wing vehicle designed to stay aloft for 6 months at 65,000 feet altitude to serve as an alternative to cell towers and communications satellites.

May 1: Virgin Galactic successfully completed the first glide test at Spaceport America of its SpaceShipTwo, VSS Unity. The spacecraft was released from its mothership at an altitude of 50,000 feet and reached an unpowered speed of Mach 0.7 before gliding in for a smooth landing on the spaceport's runway.

February 15: The SETI Institute is beginning to develop hardware and software to install in the Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico to piggyback on the VLA's normal observations for other scientists. SETI is the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Operations will begin in late 2021.

February 13: Virgin Galactic's spaceship Unity arrived at its new home, Spaceport America in southern New Mexico. Following some additional test flights, commercial operations will begin at the spaceport.

January 30: Spaceport America announced two new tennants coming in 2020. TMD Defense and Space will begin testing ballistic missiles there this fall. White Sands Research and Developers will develop a payload testing station at the spaceport as well as making the facility its home base for rocket launches.

January 29: NASA is opening its Flight Opportunities program to allowing researchers to ride along with their experiments on high-altitude balloons (such as those launched from Fort Sumner, New Mexico) and reusable suborbital vehicles including Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo (which will fly from Spaceport America).

January 25: After two years of testing, a new tool is ready to start investigating the atmospheres of planets outside our solar system. NESSI (the New Mexico Exoplanet Spectroscopic Survey Instrument) was developed by the New Mexico Tech university and JPL. It is mounted on the 200-inch Hale Telescope at Palomar Observatory in California.

January 16: SpinLaunch raised $35 million (in addition to an earlier $45 million) to fund development of its innovative kinetic launch system. Part of the new funds will be used to complete its flight test facility at Spaceport America in New Mexico. The company plans its first flight test later this year, with commercial launches beginning in 2022 if all goes well.

January 1: New Mexico astronomer Alan Hale (of Comet Hale-Bopp fame) started a weekly online educational site called Ice and Stone 2020. Each week's posting features a look back at "This Week in History," a "Comet of the Week," and a "Special Topic" related to small extraterrestrial bodies. RocketSTEM mirrors Hale's weekly postings with two additions: downloadable educational resources and the ability to sign up for emails to let you know when weekly posts are online (a handy reminder so you don't forget to check out the new information).
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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.
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 2010-2020.
Unless otherwise credited, all material on this site is © Loretta Hall 2010-2020.