Spaceport America
Site · USA
Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.
Spaceport America was conceived in the early 1990s by the Southwest Space Task Force, a private group of New Mexican space activists. Studies led them to concentrate on 70 square-km of state-owned land, 72 km north of Las Cruces, New Mexico, near a locale known as Upham. In 2003 the governor and state legislature were finally sold on the idea of developing the site as America's premiere inland commercial spaceport.
A year later New Mexico became the host for the X Prize Cup annual spaceflight exhibition. On 13 December 2005, it was announced that Virgin Galactic would undertake a joint venture with New Mexico to construct a $225 million facility to be known as Spaceport America at Upham. The venture was approved by the state legislature and the funding plans signed into law by governor Bill Richardson on 1 March 2006. By the end of 2006 the list of spaceport tenants also included Starchaser Industries, the Rocket Racing League, and Up Aerospace. Up Aerospace made the first rocket launch from the Spaceport on 25 September 2006.
Related
- Family
- Suborbital Launch Site
- Country
- USA
- Launch Vehicles
- SpaceLoft XL
- Agency
- New Mexico
Chronology
17 events
2006 September 25
20:14 GMT - . Launch Site: Spaceport America. LV Family: SpaceLoft. Launch Vehicle: SpaceLoft XL. FAILURE: Failure.- Test mission - . Nation: USA. Agency: UP Aerospace. Apogee: 12 km (7 mi).
2007 April 28
14:56 GMT - . Launch Site: Spaceport America. LV Family: SpaceLoft. Launch Vehicle: SpaceLoft XL. FAILURE: Failure.- Test / burial mission - . Nation: USA. Agency: UP Aerospace. Apogee: 117 km (72 mi).
2009 May 2
14:00 GMT - . Launch Site: Spaceport America. LV Family: SpaceLoft. Launch Vehicle: SpaceLoft XL.- Education Launch - . Nation: USA. Apogee: 10 km (6 mi).
2010 May 4
12:41 GMT - . Launch Site: Spaceport America. LV Family: SpaceLoft. Launch Vehicle: SpaceLoft XL.- SpaceLoft SL-4 - . Nation: USA. Agency: UP Aerospace. Apogee: 113 km (70 mi). Microgravity payload.
2010 October 22
Launch Site: Spaceport America. Launch Platform: WK2. LV Family: Spaceship. Launch Vehicle: Spaceship Two.2011 May 20
13:21 GMT - . Launch Site: Spaceport America. LV Family: SpaceLoft. Launch Vehicle: SpaceLoft XL.- SL-5 - . Nation: USA. Education/burial mission.
2011 December 4
18:15 GMT - . Launch Site: Spaceport America. Launch Pad: VLA LC1. Launch Vehicle: STIG-A.2012 January 28
18:15 GMT - . Launch Site: Spaceport America. Launch Vehicle: STIG-A.- STIG-A-III - . Nation: USA. Apogee: 82 km (50 mi). Test flight..
2012 April 5
14:18 GMT - . Launch Site: Spaceport America. LV Family: SpaceLoft. Launch Vehicle: SpaceLoft XL.- SL-6 - . Nation: USA. Apogee: 117 km (72 mi). Technology.
2012 October 6
Launch Site: Spaceport America. Launch Pad: VLA LC1. Launch Vehicle: STIG-B.2012 November 3
16:26 GMT - . Launch Site: Spaceport America. Launch Pad: VLA LC1. Launch Vehicle: STIG-B.2013 January 5
18:41 GMT - . Launch Site: Spaceport America. Launch Pad: VLA LC1. Launch Vehicle: STIG-B.2013 June 21
13:57 GMT - . Launch Site: Spaceport America. LV Family: SpaceLoft. Launch Vehicle: SpaceLoft XL.- SL-7/FOP-1 - . Nation: USA. Apogee: 119 km (73 mi). UP Aerospace technology mission under NASA's Flight Opportunities Program..
2013 November 12
16:15 GMT - . Launch Site: Spaceport America. LV Family: SpaceLoft. Launch Vehicle: SpaceLoft XL.- SL-8 - . Nation: USA. Apogee: 116 km (72 mi). Technology mission.
2014 October 23
13:33 GMT - . Launch Site: Spaceport America. LV Family: SpaceLoft. Launch Vehicle: SpaceLoft XL.- SL-9 - . Nation: USA. Apogee: 124 km (77 mi). Microgravity payload..
2018 September 12
14:33 GMT - . Launch Site: Spaceport America. LV Family: SpaceLoft. Launch Vehicle: SpaceLoft XL.- ADEPT - . Nation: USA. Apogee: 114 km (70 mi). Technology mission. Impacted Spaceport America, NM.
2018 September 17
14:09 GMT - . Launch Site: Spaceport America. LV Family: SpaceLoft. Launch Vehicle: SpaceLoft XL.- FOP-5?/Celestis - . Nation: USA. Apogee: 114 km (70 mi). Technology mission. Impacted Spaceport America, NM.