Spaceport America
Spaceport America, formerly the Southwest Regional Spaceport, is an FAA-licensed spaceport located on 18,000 acres of State Trust Land in the Jornada del Muerto desert basin 45 miles north of Las Cruces, NM, and 20 miles southeast of Truth or Consequences. With Virgin Galactic's launch of the VSS Unity on May 22, 2021, at Spaceport America, New Mexico became the 3rd US state to launch humans into space. Spaceport America is "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. The site is built to accommodate both vertical and horizontal launch aerospace vehicles, as well as an array of non-aerospace events and commercial activities. Spaceport America is owned and operated by the State of New Mexico, via a state agency, the New Mexico Spaceport Authority. The first rocket to ever launch at Spaceport America occurred on September 25, 2006.
