Spaceport America updates and proposed aerospace industrial park draw interest from Doña Ana County commissioners

Spaceport America’s executive director and county staff briefed Doña Ana County commissioners on April 7 about tenant activity, capital improvements and a proposed aerospace industrial park that county staff hope will anchor aerospace manufacturing and testing near the spaceport.

Executive Director Scott McLaclin said Spaceport America has expanded its roster of tenants and visitors — citing companies that use the site for vertical launches, rail launches and long‑duration high‑altitude testing — and highlighted recent outreach events and the coming return of Virgin Galactic operations. “We’re growing at about a half a million a year in terms of revenue,” McLaclin said, and he described customers building hangars and airframes on site and plans for additional hangar and runway improvements funded in part by county GRT and state monies.

Staff described planned capital projects funded through county and state capital programs: a new hangar, a 14,000‑square‑foot Stark building with flex space for payload processing and seminars, runway and pavement maintenance, sewer planning, and a fabric hangar intended for regular leasing. McLaclin said work on an updated environmental impact statement will be required given the age of the current analysis.

Later in the meeting county economic development staff presented a preliminary concept for an aerospace industrial park east of Interstate 25 between the Upham and Ringone exits. The site is adjacent to existing rail service, fiber, transmission lines and a county wastewater plant; staff framed the park as a place for research, assembly, testing and manufacturing to complement Spaceport America and regional assets such as White Sands Missile Range and nearby research labs. The county plans a stakeholder meeting at the Las Cruces Public School board room on May 8 to gather input from industry and partner agencies and said it has included a related ICIP request (land acquisition and early planning) on the county list. One aerospace‑sector company already has expressed interest, staff said.

What commissioners asked: commissioners sought copies of the full Spaceport presentation and the ICIP package, pressed for clarity on how state capital funding complements GRT dollars, and asked economic development to recruit tenants that would create local jobs and anchor manufacturing in Doña Ana County rather than neighboring jurisdictions.

Next steps: staff will circulate presentation materials, host the May 8 stakeholder meeting and return to the commission with follow‑up details on the industrial‑park proposal and any companies that register formal interest. The board paused further action to gather requested background information and to coordinate future conversations about funding and intergovernmental support.

Ending: The meeting moved to other agenda items, including a motion to go into closed session for an audit exit conference; no action on the industrial park funding request was taken at this session.