"Mojave spaceport: New Mexico is no competition, for now"

Monday, April 2, 2007

Mojave spaceport: New Mexico is no competition, for now
By ALLISON GATLIN 
The Antelope Valley (CA) Press


MOJAVE - When the Mojave Airport received its spaceport operator's license
from the Federal Aviation Administration in 2004, it became the nation's
first inland spaceport, the vanguard of a growing movement that now includes
a licensed spaceport in Oklahoma and plans for others in Florida, Ohio,
Texas and perhaps most famously, New Mexico.

New Mexico's planned Spaceport America has attracted media attention as the
U.S. headquarters for Virgin Galactic, the space tourism company founded by
billionaire adventurer and mogul Sir Richard Branson. 

Virgin Galactic's suborbital spacecraft, based on Burt Rutan's successful
SpaceShipOne design, are under development by Rutan's Scaled Composites in
Mojave, and will make the initial flights from there.

Unlike the renamed Mojave Air and Space Port, Spaceport America's facility
near Las Cruces in the southern part of new Mexico would be built solely for
space-related activities. Mojave's facility remains an active airport and
civilian flight test center, in addition to the space endeavors that have
attracted companies to its Silicon Valley-like atmosphere for the new
commercial space industry.

"Currently, they're no competition. In the future, they can be," said Stu
Witt, general manager of the Mojave Air and Space Port.

"Mojave is an active, 50-year-old airport and now a major regional economic
engine," he said. "New Mexico (spaceport) is barren desert 10 miles from the
nearest road."

The New Mexico legislature has pledged some $115 million toward Spaceport
America's development, estimated to total $198 million, and is expected to
add another $25 million for roads. Residents in three surrounding counties
are being asked to raise additional funds, with the reasoning that they will
benefit the most economically from the spaceport's activities.

Doņa Ana County voters will go to the polls Tuesday to vote on a 0.25% sales
tax increase for the spaceport.

The county is the second most populous in the state, with more than 180,000
residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It is experiencing rapid
growth in the southern portion, near the county seat of Las Cruces, while
the northern portion remains primarily rural.

The county is also home to New Mexico State University.

Officials in two other neighboring counties, Otero and Sierra, are
considering placing a sales tax before voters, as well.

New Mexico spaceport supporters, such as Gov. Bill Richardson and Secretary
for Economic Development Rick Homans, have said passage of the sales tax is
crucial to successful development of the spaceport.

Mojave Air and Space Port, in contrast, has received little state funding
support. A proposal for a $11 million state loan to build a spaceport
terminal, hangar and related infrastructure at the facility failed in the
state legislature last year. 

Money for the daily operations at the Mojave Air and Space Port comes from
"gas and dirt" - fuel sales and lease income from buildings and land within
the airport, said Tom Weil, director of business operations.

"Right now we're in pretty good shape," with about 98% occupancy in airport
property and interest from companies in building new structures along the
newest taxiway, he said.

Funds to support infrastructure expansion projects and upgrades comes in the
form of grants, mostly federal, he said.

Right now, most of the FAA grants for which the airport has sought are
funded at 95%, with the remaining 5% to come from the airport district in
the form of matching funds. 

The East Kern Airport District, which governs the airport, has been able to
secure state funding for about half of those matching funds, Weil said.

Such grants have been used recently to extend the main runway, making it
capable of serving the largest aircraft, even during the hot summer months
when more runway length is needed for take-offs.

"Infrastructure is the heart and soul of an airport. Without that, we're
just another drive-through," Weil said.

"I think the infrastructure plans we're laying in place now will go a long
way to sustaining the airport in its current form, as well as future
operations."

Among the grant-funded projects in the pipeline this year are a $1.5 million
security upgrade, another $1.5 million project to upgrade water lines for
fire suppression and completing the airport master plan, the blueprint which
will guide development there in the future. 

Ultimately, the competition among the Mojave and New Mexico spaceports and
others will be healthy, Witt said.

Mojave, with its other aerospace activities, will remain primarily a
research and development site. When such research is successful and
operational use begins, "I envision this business extending all around the
world," he said.

While there are no plans to request a tax increase to fund activities in
Mojave, there remains the necessary pressure at the state level to ensure
legislative practices that will help attract and retain businesses to
California.

"We don't want to drive these businesses to New Mexico, we want them to
extend there," Witt said. 

"The intent of the leadership in New Mexico is sound, the intent is
honorable," said Witt, who corresponds regularly with Homans. "It's also our
job to keep what we have and make them extensions and not relocations."

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