The New Mexico Spaceport Authority is a non-governmental panel, appointed by the Governor of New Mexico, whose members represent the public sector in the development and construction of Spaceport America, a facility, under construction as of March 2012, that is expected to enter operation as the first privately operated active spaceport in the United States.
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Spaceport America was built with State money and bond funding provided by county debt. Two-thirds of the $212 million used to build the spaceport was paid by the State of New Mexico with the rest provided by bonds backed by Doña Ana and Sierra county, which will be partially repaid by locally generated sales tax revenues. The state of New Mexico has privatized the operations of Spaceport America; the spaceport will be operated by Virgin Galactic, a component of the Virgin Group of global companies operated by Sir Richard Branson. While the Spaceport Authority will exercise public-sector oversight, Virgin Galactic will be the "anchor tenant" of the spaceport.
Operational status
In February 2011, the governor of New Mexico appointed Christine Anderson as executive director of the Spaceport Authority. In April 2011, the Authority announced that its budget for fiscal year 2012 had been reduced by 57 percent. In March 2012, the Authority announced that it had completed what it called Phase I of the Virgin/Spaceport America construction project. This Phase I included a 10,000-foot runway, a terminal hangar, and a domed Space Operations Center. Phase II, the visitor center and actual liftoff pad, remained unbuilt as of March 2012.
Current events
The current status of Virgin Galactic, the sole prospective tenant of the New Mexico Spaceport and its Authority, has led members of the New Mexico legislature to sharply question Executive Director Anderson. After an incident on October 31, 2014, Virgin Galactic indefinitely postponed its planned operational startup date in New Mexico. In November 2014, Anderson requested that the legislature consider creating an supplemental emergency fund to enable the spaceport to maintain its operations, and told lawmakers that the Authority will try to rent out the spaceport for "video shoots or concerts."