Business Specialties Technology
April 1, 2009
By: Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor
Southern New Mexico is well on its way to becoming home to a burgeoning U.S. industry, commercial space flight--and the area could see a spate of new commercial real estate development to support that industry.
The focus of future growth in that part of the state, northwest of El Paso along I-25, will be at Spaceport America, the nation’s first purpose-built commercial spaceport. A major step toward the realization of the facility as a fully functioning spaceport was the Jan. 1, 2009 inking of a 20-year lease between Virgin Galactic, who will be the spaceport's anchor tenant, and the State of New Mexico.
The lease came shortly after the Federal Aviation Administration issued a launch license to the New Mexico Spaceport Authority, and also shortly after the first successful test flight of Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft, which will eventually take the company's SpaceShipTwo to a high enough altitude to allow the spacecraft to proceed to a suborbital flight carrying passengers, science packages and other payload.
Landing an anchor tenant was the final requirement set by the New Mexico legislature to release the next level of funding for Spaceport America, thus clearing the way for construction to begin later this spring for a completion in 2010. Gerald Martin Construction Management of Albuquerque will oversee construction of the spaceport, with a terminal and hanger designed by the architectural firm of URS/Foster + Partners. Road construction to Spaceport America is already under way.
The prospect of space tourism has gotten the most attention, including national magazines and TV coverage. Over 300 would-be space travelers have put down deposits, with only a few seeking refunds because of the current economy, according to Virgin Galactic. But the spaceport will be much more than a site for taking adventure-seekers up to experience weightlessness and see the curvature of the Earth.
“The spaceport is a strong catalyst for growth, not only in rocketry and related technologies and the tourism associated with commercial space travel, but also the commercial payloads--science experiments and commercial satellite launches,” John Hummer, owner of Las Cruces, N.M.-based Steinborn TCN Commercial Real Estate, told CPN. “The corridor including Las Cruces, the largest nearby town, and Truth or Consequences, the closest to the spaceport, are already benefiting from interest in the spaceport.”
In Las Cruces, Hummer said, an assortment of research parks and mixed-use industrial projects are on the drawing board or under way, such as New Mexico State University’s Arrowhead Research Park, which will be on a 257-acre site at the junction of I-25 and I-10 in Las Cruces, plus business park development near the airports in both Las Cruces and Truth or Consequences. “Between Virgin Galactic as the anchor tenant and other new entrants, such as UP Aerospace and Armadillo Aerospace, there will be a space-related cluster will spawns commercial uses in the area,” Hummer noted.
He added that the cluster won’t mushroom overnight, but like most new industries will evolve over a few years--and the new space industry is often compared with the early years of aeronautics as a commercial endeavor. “There’s a lot of relationship- and contact-development happening at this point,” he says. “Developing a brand-new industry is a long-term, high-risk proposition, but the potential rewards and spinoffs are enormous.”
By: Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor
Southern New Mexico is well on its way to becoming home to a burgeoning U.S. industry, commercial space flight--and the area could see a spate of new commercial real estate development to support that industry.
The focus of future growth in that part of the state, northwest of El Paso along I-25, will be at Spaceport America, the nation’s first purpose-built commercial spaceport. A major step toward the realization of the facility as a fully functioning spaceport was the Jan. 1, 2009 inking of a 20-year lease between Virgin Galactic, who will be the spaceport's anchor tenant, and the State of New Mexico.
The lease came shortly after the Federal Aviation Administration issued a launch license to the New Mexico Spaceport Authority, and also shortly after the first successful test flight of Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft, which will eventually take the company's SpaceShipTwo to a high enough altitude to allow the spacecraft to proceed to a suborbital flight carrying passengers, science packages and other payload.
Landing an anchor tenant was the final requirement set by the New Mexico legislature to release the next level of funding for Spaceport America, thus clearing the way for construction to begin later this spring for a completion in 2010. Gerald Martin Construction Management of Albuquerque will oversee construction of the spaceport, with a terminal and hanger designed by the architectural firm of URS/Foster + Partners. Road construction to Spaceport America is already under way.
The prospect of space tourism has gotten the most attention, including national magazines and TV coverage. Over 300 would-be space travelers have put down deposits, with only a few seeking refunds because of the current economy, according to Virgin Galactic. But the spaceport will be much more than a site for taking adventure-seekers up to experience weightlessness and see the curvature of the Earth.
“The spaceport is a strong catalyst for growth, not only in rocketry and related technologies and the tourism associated with commercial space travel, but also the commercial payloads--science experiments and commercial satellite launches,” John Hummer, owner of Las Cruces, N.M.-based Steinborn TCN Commercial Real Estate, told CPN. “The corridor including Las Cruces, the largest nearby town, and Truth or Consequences, the closest to the spaceport, are already benefiting from interest in the spaceport.”
In Las Cruces, Hummer said, an assortment of research parks and mixed-use industrial projects are on the drawing board or under way, such as New Mexico State University’s Arrowhead Research Park, which will be on a 257-acre site at the junction of I-25 and I-10 in Las Cruces, plus business park development near the airports in both Las Cruces and Truth or Consequences. “Between Virgin Galactic as the anchor tenant and other new entrants, such as UP Aerospace and Armadillo Aerospace, there will be a space-related cluster will spawns commercial uses in the area,” Hummer noted.
He added that the cluster won’t mushroom overnight, but like most new industries will evolve over a few years--and the new space industry is often compared with the early years of aeronautics as a commercial endeavor. “There’s a lot of relationship- and contact-development happening at this point,” he says. “Developing a brand-new industry is a long-term, high-risk proposition, but the potential rewards and spinoffs are enormous.”
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