The years pass, and activity does not take off in New Mexico. Virgin Galactic will even slow down and then cease its tourist flights, while the other start-ups are absent. The authorities blame overly restrictive regulations… In the meantime, this gem remains deserted most of the time.
It was the first of the world’s “private spaceports”, yet built thanks to significant public investments (more than 220 million dollars) shared between the state of New Mexico and the region. But at Spaceport America, which has up to 811 jobs in total, including one-off contracts, there is very little activity. In 2022, the six companies that lease space there, including the largest, Virgin Galactic, generated $7.5 million in revenue. To which New Mexico adds again between 5 and 10 million each year, to support the activity… In reality, the famous “boom” of suborbital space tourism has not come, and the promise seems to be move away from year to year. There was hope in 2023 with the six flight campaigns of the VSS Unity rocket plane, but activity will decline.
Virgin Slow
Indeed, for Virgin Galactic, welcoming tourists, their flight up to an altitude of more than 80 km then their return to the ground, champagne to boot, generates very little income and the company has lost up to ‘to 100 million dollars per quarter. The valiant VSS Unity rocket plane should thus fly two more times before retiring by the summer of 2024, time for Virgin Galactic to assemble and then test a new generation of devices.
This development is not carried out at Spaceport America, but in California, in Mojave. The luxurious welcome, the lounge and its deep armchairs risk gathering dust, as much as its hangars. And among the other companies present at the Spaceport, some are not necessarily doing better. SpinLaunch had assembled its first “space centrifuge” demonstrator there, but the company has barely communicated for about 18 months. In the sector, this does not bode very well.
Maybe another decade and it takes off?
According to the authorities and managers, rather than turning the page, it would be good to strengthen aid and investments, in order to keep jobs and even generate training sectors. The administration seeks to attract new players in the region, in particular the “ NewSpace » and its launchers. But the desert surrounding Spaceport America does not currently guarantee sufficient flight corridors in the face of the risk of falling debris in the event of a problem: this is the major reason why almost all American orbital flights have taken place since facilities on the edge of the ocean.
Faced with this, they are even trying to change the law, to possibly authorize the most reliable companies to free themselves from certain obligations. Will this be enough to ensure the sustainability of the New Mexico spaceport?
Source : Space News
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