Article courtesy of the Las Cruces Bulletin
By Todd G. Dickson
Armadillo Aerospace – which has been the leader in developing rocket technology for vehicles to take off and land vertically – will be conducting three NASA-funded tests this winter at Spaceport America.
Photo courtesy of Armadillo Aerospace
Programmer John Carmack, who made his fortune creating computer games such as “Doom,” started Armadillo in 2000 to pursue advances first tested at White Sands Missile Range in the 1990s. In the past two years, one of his vehicles has successfully accomplished the first levels of a NASA-sponsored contest for designing a new lunar lander.
The demonstration vehicle built by Armadillo of Rockwell, Texas, has previously flown at the Las Cruces International Airport for the now-dormant X PRIZE Cup spaceflight expo. Rick Homans, executive director of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority, said these new tests illustrate the research and development capabilities of Spaceport America, which is being constructed in the desert 45 miles north of Las Cruces.
“These launches mark an important step in NASA’s plan to empower the emerging commercial spaceflight industry to assume a greater role in the nation’s space program,” Homans said. “Spaceport America is the launch pad for this new industry, and Armadillo’s decision to launch here affirms our important position.”
Armadillo is developing new vehicles that can launch small payloads to suborbital “near space,” which NASA defines as altitudes between about 19 and 106 kilometers, and return them safely to earth.
“Armadillo is proud to pioneer reusable rocket technology for the commercial space industry and Spaceport America provides the perfect place for our launches,” said Neil Milburn, vice president of program management at Armadillo Aerospace. “We selected Spaceport America because of its geographic advantages, dedicated staff, technical experience, flexibility and its low cost. We need exactly this kind of support to be successful.”
Milburn said Armadillo will move its test operations to Spaceport America for two NASA-funded Commercial Reusable Suborbital Research Program (CRuSR) flights to 15 kilometers, under the Amateur Class III waiver, and a subsequent fully licensed or permit flight to at least 40 kilometers this winter.
NASA’s CRuSR program envisions a series of suborbital flights that will provide access to a few minutes of microgravity for experimentation, discovery and testing. According to Homans, NASA wants to help private firms develop suborbital spacecraft that will eventually provide the nation with lower-cost and much more reliable access to orbital space. Spaceport America anticipates playing a critical role in the CRuSR program, Homans said.
The Armadillo announcement comes just two weeks after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) awarded at least $5 million to New Mexico State University to develop a Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation.
“These announcements, coming one on top of another, are big news for Spaceport America,” Homans said.
Southern road deal
The Armadillo news also comes as Homans had finished brokering a deal with Sierra and Dona Ana counties to pave the southern road to Spaceport America. The route to Spaceport America that starts from the Upham exit off Interstate 25 is a graded dirt road about 24 miles long. Currently, the only paved road to Spaceport America comes from Elephant Butte via Truth or Consequences.
Technically, Spaceport America’s operations are in Sierra County, and the unpaved road travels some seven miles in Dona Ana County before crossing the county line. Voters in both counties have passed a small increase in gross receipts taxes (GRT) to support the spaceport’s construction, and the estimated $13 million for the road will come from the next $19 million the spaceport GRT brings in, Homans said.
The counties – primarily Dona Ana County – will provide services for designing and permitting of the paved road. Homans said he is finalizing the contracts and expects meetings soon to start the preliminary work.
Water well worries
When contractors for Spaceport America tapped a former train well to provide water for the construction of its two-mile-long runway and Virgin Galactic’s Terminal Hangar Facility, it wasn’t expected to have any adverse effect on the neighboring open range ranching.
But earlier this summer, neighbors complained their wells were running dry because spaceport construction firms were using the well for the massive amounts of concrete needed for the runway and other facilities.
Since the spaceport stopped using the well, water levels have returned for most of the surrounding wells, Homans said, and the spaceport’s operations will be depending on two other wells that get their water from a different aquifer source by the end of this month.
Homans said he promised the surrounding ranchers that the spaceport would find a “fair and reasonable solution for all parties, I feel we’ve kept our word.”
