New Mexico mulls sale of first US commercial spaceport (and LOHAN launchpad)

A New Mexico State Senator has proposed to sell off Spaceport America, saying the site has no viable business model – while claiming that Virgin Galactic may be in breach of contract after a disastrous spaceplane flight ended in death. The spaceport opened for business in 2006 but has seen hard times, hosting just 21 vertical …

[Mark 85]

Ulterior motive?

Given the state of US politics... I have to wonder what he's up to? I wonder who they'd sell it to?

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: Ulterior motive?

>I wonder who they'd sell it to?

Aliens ?

[Cliff]

I'm guessing no matter who buys it, it stays put and so the jobs and local economy benefits remain.

[Camilla Smythe]

It's a runway.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaceport_America

They will sell it off to store cargo containers and overspill of car stock.

[Anonymous Coward]

SNAFU

"...no one except the Senator who proposed the bill spoke in its favor."

He's paid off. This should be a flag to immediately investigate this "senator". Nothing else to say besides investigate him. Democrat...Republican...Crook.

[Hud Dunlap]

No one spoke in its favor but it is moving on?

http://www.kvia.com/news/nm-senate-panel-passes-proposal-that-would-put-spaceport-up-for-sale/31374288

Not quite sure why he-and a lot of other people- are going on junkets to Turkey.

http://turkishinvitations.weebly.com/elected-officials-who-went-on-gulenist-turkey-trips.html

So why does he want to sell it and to whom does he want to sell it to?

[FrankAlphaXII]

New Mexico politics are a murky world, with everyone from the United States Federal Government (mostly via the Military and Nuclear Weapons complex), the Tribes, the Mexicans, the Intel corporation, and many other smaller players all having huge amounts of influence, so understanding the motivations here are probably an exercise in futility unless you know who has this guy bought and paid for, or if its simple jealousy toward the district that T or C is in or against the Senator from District 35, or a political game to spite the Governor since she's from the other party and an enthusiastic supporter of the Spaceport.

I thought Florida was difficult to understand until I started digging into New Mexico while attempting to understand my wife (who is a New Mexico native) and her friends and family's apathy toward the game out there and gave up trying to understand who is pulling who's strings where and why because its the most damned Byzantine thing I've ever seen.

And now that I'm thinking about the place, I want some Green Chile and a Sopapilla. Thanks Obama El Reg.

[Anonymous Coward]

Lohan

And you thought Spain was a bureaucratic nightmare.

[Neomexicano]

Spaceport for Sale

NM does have a messy government. The main issue is the "old boys network" that has run the state for generations (not all boys though). Gov. Richardson was one of the worst offenders. The spaceport was paid for by just two counties in the state as Richardson said "the only two counties to benefit". Yet, these same two counties had to contribute to the train that they built that only runs from Santa Fe to Belen since it "benefitted all of New Mexico". The NM house has been run by democrats for 60 years until this past election. It is too early to tell what will be the result, but it truly cannot be as bad as before since at least another old boys network is now in competition. It is funny that Anonymous mentioned Spain's bureaucratic nightmare. Most northern New Mexicans consider themselves Spanish, so as to differentiate from all of the Mexicans that inhabit the rest of the state (hmmm,, wonder what their origin was?).

[Conundrum1885]

Re. spaceport

Seems a shame to just trash it, as it would make an ideal backup landing strip for the B-2 and Aurora.

Also one suggestion doing the rounds on various forums is to use it to test Musk's "Hyperloop" and other exotic projects including the WEAV.