X Prize Cup
In the spirit of the America’s Cup, the annual X Prize Cup has been established to provide an arena for X Prize Class vehicles to compete for cash prizes and to promote breakthroughs in space technologies. This year’s event was October 18-21, 2006 in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The week’s flagship contest was the Lunar Lander Challenge, co-sponsored by NASA and the X Prize Foundation. Spectators saw teams and their crafts compete for a $2.5 million purse. As many as 20,000 attended last year’s inaugural event. www.xpcup.com
Virgin Galactic
In December of 2005, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and Sir Richard Branson, Chairman of the Virgin Companies, announced that Virgin Galactic, the world’s first commercial space tourism business, will locate its world headquarters and Mission Control in New Mexico. Virgin Galactic plans to create a five-star destination experience to accommodate customers, their families, and space enthusiasts at Spaceport America. www.virgingalactic.com
Starchaser Industries
Headquartered in the United Kingdom, Starchaser was the first “space business” to locate in the proximity of the Spaceport. Starchaser enables new space related business opportunities by providing safe, reliable, affordable, and reusable access to space for both the space tourism and micro-satellite launch markets. The company plans to build a research and development and launch vehicle manufacturing plant, with two major engineering efforts underway, dubbed Skybolt and Thunderstar. Skybolt is a low-cost reusable liquid propellant sounding rocket. Its liquid oxygen/kerosene propulsion system is designated STORM and will be test fired in several places this year. www.starchaser.co.uk
Rocket Racing League
An aviation sports and entertainment organization, the Rocket Racing League is building its headquarters in Las Cruces. RRL will organize, host and run rocket racing competitions across the United States, with semi-finals in Reno, Nevada, and finals taking place each year at the X Prize Cup in New Mexico.
www.rocketracingleague.com
UP Aerospace
UP Aerospace is the world's premier supplier of low-cost space access. Never before has it been so affordable to launch significant-size payloads and sophisticated experiments into space. Complete payload recovery and a wide range of tracking, telemetry, and avionics options, make UP Aerospace the perfect solution for both business and educational opportunities. UP Aerospace launched the first rocket from a temporary facility at Spaceport America in April, 2007.
