As part of the 2024 Spaceport America Open House, Virgin Galactic gave attendees a rare opportunity to get a glimpse of VSS Unity (pictured). Through its lifespan, VSS Unity embarked on 12 spaceflights, the last of which took place on June 8, 2024. Virgin Galactic's next iteration of spaceships, the Delta-class, are currently under construction in Arizona.

Spaceport America Holds Open House, Draws Nearly 2,000 to Site

In its first Open House event since 2019, Spaceport America saw almost 2,000 onlookers flock to its site in Sierra County on Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024.

Attendees of the free event were treated to a glimpse at VSS Unity, Virgin Galactic's spaceship, in addition to talks and presentations from Lieutenant Governor Howie Morales, former NASA astronaut Nicole Stott, and others. Over 30 aircraft were on display as well.

The Spaceport America Open House is set to be an annual event, taking place in conjunction with the Las Cruces Space Festival.

SPACE for a Better World Art Installation Features New Mexico Students

Students from Las Cruces Public Schools and Truth or Consequences Municipal Schools visited Spaceport America on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, to take part in an outreach event with SPACE for a Better World. The students spend the better part of the day at Spaceport America before participating in an AIM Higher art installation where they arranged themselves in the shape of the Las Cruces Space Festival Logo for an overhead photo.

Spaceport America, GTS Building Highlighted on Documentary Series
The third season of the Smithsonian Channel television series How Did They Build That? premiered on Sunday, August 19, 2024 with a segment of how the Terminal and Hangar Facility (THF) was constructed at Spaceport America.

Featuring interviews from personnel from Spaceport America, Virgin Galactic, and more, the 15-minute segment explores the challenges presented when constructing the building and the runway at the Horizontal Launch Area of Spaceport America.

The program can be viewed on demand on The Smithsonian Channel and Paramout+ (subscription required).

USAF Logistics Officers Association Touches Down at Spaceport America

A group of over 50 Logistics Officers from the United States Air Force and the United States Space Force made their way from Albuquerque, N.M., to Spaceport America for a full day of programming on July 10, 2024.

Spaceport America, New Mexico Gov't Personnel Featured at 2024 Aerospace States Association Annual Meeting/Policy Summit
Aerospace and space leaders from around the nation convened in New Orleans, La., from June 24-27, 2024, as part of the 2024 Aerospace States Association (ASA) Annual Meeting and State Aerospace Policy Summit.

Spaceport America Executive Director Scott McLaughlin appeared on a panel centered around space tourism moderated by Louisiana's Lieutenant Governor, Billy Nungesser. New Mexico's presence at the event also included Lieutenant Governor Howie Morales and his Chief of Operations Martina C'de Baca who co-moderated a panel on Space Debris and Exploration.

The Aerospace States Association (ASA) is a non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization comprising lieutenant governors, governor-appointed delegates, state legislators, territorial and tribal government representatives. Associate members come from aerospace businesses, organizations, and academia working to advance aerospace and aviation in member states and throughout the nation. ASA is the only aerospace advocacy organization promoting state-based perspectives on federal aerospace policy.

2024 Spaceport America Cup Features Over 120 Teams

The latest edition of the world's largest intercollegiate rocketry competition wrapped up in June of 2024.

Concluding with the closing ceremony Saturday, June 22, 2024, at the Pan America Center on the campus of New Mexico State University, the 2024 Spaceport America Cup again featured the technical prowess of thousands of the world's most intellectually gifted college students centered around the field of intercollegiate rocketry.

Of the 152 teams who signed up to take part in the event, a record 122 of them made the trek to southern New Mexico for the week-long competition featuring some of the brightest minds and most dedicated college and university students from around the globe. A strong partnership between Spaceport America and the Experimental Sounding Rocket Association (ESRA) made the event, which has been held at the world's first purpose-built commercial spaceport since 2017, possible.

"It never ceases to amaze me how much energy these students bring to the event," said ESRA President Steve Taylor. "The global community is one of the things we bring together for this event and I'm proud of what we have built over the years."

Taking home the coveted Genesis Cup Trophy as the overall winner of the event was Team 121, the University of Maryland. That institution joins the likes of Brigham Young University (2023), The University of Sydney (2022), the University of Minnesota (2021), the University of Washington (2019), McGill University (2018) and the University of Michigan (2017) as overall winners of the Cup.

The Chile Cup, a regional competition between New Mexico State University (NMSU), New Mexico Tech, the University of New Mexico (UNM), and the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), was won by UNM.

"The continued growth of the Spaceport America Cup is a testament to the passion of thousands of students from around the world as well as the dedication by the staffs of ESRA and Spaceport America to put on a world-class event," commented Spaceport America Executive Director Scott McLaughlin. "Being able to directly impact the future members of the space and aerospace workforce is something we are proud of, and we can't wait to see the growth opportunities which await our organizations in 2024."

McLaughlin Represents New Mexico, Spaceport America at Global Spaceport Alliance Capitol Hill Summit
(Courtesy of the Global Spaceport Alliance) On June 12, 2024, the Global Spaceport Alliance went to Capitol Hill for the first time to inform members of Congress and their staffs about the growing importance of spaceports to the world economy. The day's activities began with a session moderated by GSA Chairman Dr. George Nield. The program included representatives from four very successful spaceports, including Rob Long, CEO of Space Florida; retired Major General Ted Mercer, CEO and Executive Director of the Virginia Spaceport Authority; Scott McLaughlin, Executive Director of New Mexico Spaceport Authority at Spaceport America; and Arturo Machuca, Director of the Houston Spaceport. The meeting was held in the Rayburn House Office Building and attended by a capacity gathering of Hill staffers and interested industry observers.

Virgin Galactic Completes 'Galactic 07' Spaceflight, Final Flight by VSS Unity
For the eighth time in a little less over one calendar year, Virgin Galactic, Spaceport America's anchor tenant, successfully launched a commercial spaceflight.

On Saturday, June 8, 2024, VSS Unity ferried a congregation of six pilots and spaceflight participants to space for the final time during Virgin Galactic's 'Galactic 07' spaceflight. Following the conclusion of the spaceflight, Unity was retired from active service and Virgin Galactic announced it would place a pause on its commercial spaceflights for a 12-14 month period in order to focus its efforts on the development of its new Delta-class spacecraft.

Since beginning spaceflights (test and commercial) from Spaceport America in May of 2021, a total of 35 individuals have reached space (some multiple times) throughout the 10 flights. Those 35 individuals make up 5.01-percent of the total number of humans who have traveled to space (698).

New Mexico Amigos Pay a Visit to Spaceport America

Headlined by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, state senator George Munoz and state representative Dayan Hochman-Vigil, the New Mexico Amigos stopped off at Spaceport America to begin their annual goodwill tour on Saturday, April 21, 2024.

The official goodwill ambassadors for the Land of Enchantment featured nearly 200 leaders from around the state as they learned about Spaceport America, its mission and its tenants.

STEM Engagement and Outreach Events | April-September 2024
One of the elements of Spaceport America's statutory mission is to promote educational involvement in spaceport activities and education and training of the workforce to develop the skills needed for spaceport operations. Spaceport America personnel regularly take part in STEM engagement events around the area in order to help further this aspect of the agency's mission.