ttracting aviation projects is one of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson’s economic development goals. That plan received a significant boost in October 2004 with the announcement that American Utilicraft will build a cargo plane assembly plant in Albuquerque. The move adds to the state’s burgeoning cluster at the Double Eagle II Aviation Park.
The Atlanta-based company is developing the FF-1080, a plane designed specifically to carry containerized cargo in an un-pressurized body. The plan has been in development for 13 years. American Utilicraft officials signed a letter of intent with the City of Albuquerque to lease 10 acres (4 hectares) at the park. The company says it will create 350 to 400 jobs within three years at a facility that could be up to 80,000 sq. ft. (7,400 sq. m.).
The deal comes on the heels of a decision earlier in the year by Aviation Technology Group to build a facility in the same park to manufacture its two-seat Javelin jet aimed at the “executive sport” market. That project involves construction of a 100,000-sq.-ft. (9,000-sq.-m.) facility.
But New Mexico’s aerospace future looks to travel even farther. The state’s planned Southwest Regional Spaceport, which will be located in an undeveloped region of southern New Mexico about 45 miles (72 km.) north of Las Cruces and adjacent to the White Sands Missile Range. An economic evaluation conducted by New Mexico State University indicates the benefits could be large, with the spaceport eventually generating more than $500 million in activity per year.
Although still in the planning stages, the Spaceport is already paying dividends. The state successfully bid to host the X Prize Cup, an international space exhibition. The Cup will be sponsored by the X Prize Foundation, originator of the $10-million Ansari X Prize competition that awarded the money in October 2004. An X Prize Cup exhibition is planned for the summer of 2005 and the competition will begin a year later. The New Mexico Legislature has committed $9 million to the project, including $4 million to help develop the infrastructure needed for the competition and $5 million to pay for engineering, planning and design and operations and marketing expenses for the cup and Spaceport development.
England-based Star Chaser Industries, a firm specializing in development of reusable, affordable space travel and tourism, has opened an office in Las Cruces and has plans to start flying suborbital space vehicles from the Spaceport by 2006.
Biotechnology is another burgeoning cluster in New Mexico. One of the newest start-ups is Pecos Labs, a Sante Fe firm founded in 2004 to develop synthetic vaccines against drug-resistant pathogens and biowarfare agents.
“It’s beginning to happen here,” says Pecos Labs President Susan Burgess of a biotech cluster. “Eight years ago there was an initial flurry here and that sort of died down. The markets that crushed bio were particularly hard in this area. I sense now it’s time for a resurgence. In New Mexico, all the pieces are in place. The state has a strong tradition in bioinformatics.”
Burgess says a lot of biotech entrepreneurs are
looking for an area that offers a high quality of life that’s away from
the Bay Area and the Northeast.
The Atlanta-based company is developing the FF-1080, a plane designed specifically to carry containerized cargo in an un-pressurized body. The plan has been in development for 13 years. American Utilicraft officials signed a letter of intent with the City of Albuquerque to lease 10 acres (4 hectares) at the park. The company says it will create 350 to 400 jobs within three years at a facility that could be up to 80,000 sq. ft. (7,400 sq. m.).
The deal comes on the heels of a decision earlier in the year by Aviation Technology Group to build a facility in the same park to manufacture its two-seat Javelin jet aimed at the “executive sport” market. That project involves construction of a 100,000-sq.-ft. (9,000-sq.-m.) facility.
But New Mexico’s aerospace future looks to travel even farther. The state’s planned Southwest Regional Spaceport, which will be located in an undeveloped region of southern New Mexico about 45 miles (72 km.) north of Las Cruces and adjacent to the White Sands Missile Range. An economic evaluation conducted by New Mexico State University indicates the benefits could be large, with the spaceport eventually generating more than $500 million in activity per year.
Although still in the planning stages, the Spaceport is already paying dividends. The state successfully bid to host the X Prize Cup, an international space exhibition. The Cup will be sponsored by the X Prize Foundation, originator of the $10-million Ansari X Prize competition that awarded the money in October 2004. An X Prize Cup exhibition is planned for the summer of 2005 and the competition will begin a year later. The New Mexico Legislature has committed $9 million to the project, including $4 million to help develop the infrastructure needed for the competition and $5 million to pay for engineering, planning and design and operations and marketing expenses for the cup and Spaceport development.
England-based Star Chaser Industries, a firm specializing in development of reusable, affordable space travel and tourism, has opened an office in Las Cruces and has plans to start flying suborbital space vehicles from the Spaceport by 2006.
Biotechnology is another burgeoning cluster in New Mexico. One of the newest start-ups is Pecos Labs, a Sante Fe firm founded in 2004 to develop synthetic vaccines against drug-resistant pathogens and biowarfare agents.
“It’s beginning to happen here,” says Pecos Labs President Susan Burgess of a biotech cluster. “Eight years ago there was an initial flurry here and that sort of died down. The markets that crushed bio were particularly hard in this area. I sense now it’s time for a resurgence. In New Mexico, all the pieces are in place. The state has a strong tradition in bioinformatics.”
Burgess says a lot of biotech entrepreneurs are
looking for an area that offers a high quality of life that’s away from
the Bay Area and the Northeast.
 |
| New Mexico is moving ahead with development of the Southwest Regional Spaceport. The effort received a boost with the announcement that the site will host the X Prize Cup, an international space exhibition. |