The good folks of New Mexico are finding that being the chosen home of a private-sector spaceport is a mixed blessing.
Turns out, a spaceports costs money, and even if it's going to be used by private companies, the public is going to have to cough up a substantial chunk of change to support them. That's leading to wrangling over tax districts, state funding and other tangles familiar from politics on the most local level.
We definitely won't be following this on a day-by-day level here – but the Las Cruces Sun-News is, and dropping in to the paper for an occasional look at what's going on provides a useful antidote to some of the sky-eyed optimism of the new breed of private space companies.
Local counties are struggling to create tax districts, with local governments reluctant to take definitive steps until their neighbors do the same thing. Officials from the New Mexico Spaceport Authority asked lawmakers last week for a budget close to 5 times this year's – a funding boost that would bring them to $1.5 million a year – largely to start hiring staff.
While interested, lawmakers aren't treating the idea as a done deal. From the Sun-News:
Spaceport America designs were released earlier this month, with construction expected to begin – assuming all goes well – next year.
Spaceport officials ask for $1.5M [Las Cruces Sun-News] via Personal Spaceflight
Sierra County commission takes step toward spaceport district [Las Cruces Sun-News]
(Image: Artist's rendering of the proposed Spaceport America design, in 3-D cutaway view. Credit: Spaceport America)
