First Launch Set for New Mexico Spaceport
A launch date has been set for the inaugural
flight from the New Mexico Spaceport, a site officials hope will become a new
hub for space tourism and other commercial launches.
A launch date has been set for the inaugural flight from the New Mexico Spaceport, a site officials hope will become a new hub for space tourism and other commercial launches.
UP Aerospace, Inc. today set Aug. 14 as the official date for its SpaceLoft XL rocket, which will carry dozens of private and educational experiments and payloads.
"Not only does this commercial space launch mark a new era in America's private space industry, it opens the door to wonderful achievements destined to occur from New Mexico," said Eric Knight, CEO of UP Aerospace.
"Our vehicle contains over 50 experiments and payloads from the private and educational sectors, worldwide," Knight said in a statement. "And it's just the first of multiple commercial space launches that we will be conducting. Another significant space launch is in October, concurrent with this year's X Prize Cup event."
The announcement represents "the next milestone for the State of New Mexico in continuing our leadership role in the second space age," said Rick Homans, Secretary of the New Mexico Economic Development Department. This launch will put New Mexico's Spaceport on the map, and will get us one step further towards...getting our governor, Bill Richardson, one step closer to being president of the United States.
Posted: Mon - July 3, 2006 at 09:47 AM