Did you watch the televised hype around Sir Richard Branson becoming the first billionaire to go into space? I did. And I distinctly recall how he rode his bike to the launch site at Spaceport America. (Video can be viewed at https://youtu.be/4ZX_7–S0Z4)
It turns out Spaceport America is about a little over an hour’s drive from Las Cruces. For Christmas, Janelle gifted Jim a tour of Spaceport. Yup, we were going to follow in Sir Richard Branson’s footsteps…or should that be tire tracks?
But what exactly is Spaceport America? Jim and I both assumed it was just a launching pad for Virgin Galactic. We were so wrong. There is so much more than just Branson’s pet project. Spaceport is actually owned by the Government of New Mexico. They lease building space and runway rights to outside ventures. The current tenants working in the Spaceport are HAPSMobile Aerovironment, UP Aerospace, SpinLaunch, and Virgin Galactic.[
Our tour started in the little town of Truth or Consequences. Yes, that is really the town’s name. That’s a whole other story. From Wikipedia:
The city changed its name from Hot Springs[7] to Truth or Consequences as the result of a radio show contest. In March 1950, Ralph Edwards, the host of the popular NBC Radio quiz show Truth or Consequences, announced that he would air the program on its 10th anniversary from the first town that renamed itself after the show; Hot Springs officially changed its name on March 31, 1950, and the program was broadcast from there the following evening. Edwards visited the town during the first weekend of May for the next 50 years. This event became known as Fiesta and eventually included a beauty contest, a parade, and a stage show. The city still celebrates Fiesta each year during the first weekend of May. The parade generally features local dignitaries, last year’s Miss Fiesta pageant queen, and the winner of Hatch Chile Queen pageant. Fiesta also features a dance in Ralph Edwards Park.[7]
A tour is the only way the public can see Spaceport with the exception of an open house held one day a year…and I bet they don’t get to see all we saw.

We had a 40 minute van ride out to Spaceport. Why so far out?

Our first stop was at the $200,000, 11,000 pound sculpture called Genesis. It greets visitors at the entrance. It has mirrored glass discs to reflect the light and represent stars.



We spent a considerable amount of time at the SOC (Spaceport Operations Center). This was a very unusual shaped building covered in ceramic tile.

The building is definitely unique. But I wouldn’t be in a hurry to build one of these structures. Look at this picture.

We visited Mission Control inside the SOC. It was impressive for being not impressive. It looked like any other ordinary office with big windows!


After the visit to the SOC, we got to drive out onto the runway. Before we could cross onto the runway proper, our van had to stop and the driver got out to make sure there were not any foreign objects in the van’s tires that could be left on the runway.
Our final stop was the GTS where Virgin Galactic has a 20 year lease.







We really enjoyed our Spaceport tour (Thanks Janelle!). There are a number of tenants on site. The marketing literature calls Spaceport “the world’s first purpose-built commercial spaceport”, designed and constructed specifically for commercial users, that had not previously been an airport or federal infrastructure of any kind.” It is going to be kind of neat to see what gets launched from here in the future.
Whoa!!!! Thanks for sharing this. Y’all are finding all kinds of unique places in this country!!! I couldn’t get the “resinarchitecture” site.
Yeah, it was different.
This link should work: https://www.resinarchitecture.com/spaceport-america-soc
Awesome! Do you remember the name of the fire apparatus manufacturer? Pierce/Oshkosh which Churchville Fire Equipment represents fabricate these for many facilities. Keep enjoying your travels!
“Jerry”
Thanks for sharing this adventure and reference material with us. Fascinating facility, technology and equipment!