The Federal Aviation Administration’s associate administrator for Commercial Space Transportation has granted New Mexico’s official state spaceport the license it needs for vertical and horizontal launches.
The $198 million facility will be financed with $115 million in severance tax bond proceeds. The spaceport is located in southern Sierra County. Additional funding will come from a dedicated sales tax in two counties in southern New Mexico, and federal grants.
Spaceport authority director Steve Landeene said the license approval means work should begin on the facility early next year. Federal licensing was one of the conditions the Legislature required for the release of spaceport funding.
The license was issued following the completion of a final environmental impact study.
Financing will include bonds issued by a proposed three-county spaceport district and supported by a voter-approved 0.25% sales tax. Doña Ana County voted in April 2007 to levy the sales tax and establish the regional spaceport authority, followed by Sierra County in April. However, Otero County rejected the tax in November.
Spaceport officials said several towns in the area, including Roswell and Socorro, have expressed interest in joining the spaceport district.
