Spaceport America has confirmed a lease with a new tenant, but is providing no details yet about the company, its operations or lease terms; nor would it confirm a report last week that British aerospace company Prismatic may be establishing operations there.
“We work in a very secretive industry,” spaceport spokesperson Alice Carruth wrote in an email, “not just because of the proprietary nature of the customers we serve, but because all space vehicles fall under ITAR regulations.”
ITAR refers to the U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations, which covers military hardware and gear, including spacecraft.
The apparent arrival of Prismatic among the spaceport’s tenants was uncovered by Albuquerque Business First in an April 26 report based on building permits and interviews with the contractor building a new hangar at the facility.
Per its website, the British company specializes in UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly referred to as drones), including the Persistent High Altitude Solar Aircraft (PHASA-35) it developed in collaboration with UK defense corporation BAE Systems. BAE Systems, which also operates in the U.S., acquired Prismatic in 2019.
PHASA-35 Solar HALE platform
One of the building permits associated with the new hangar describes the project as “Spaceport America PHASA 35 Flight Trial 2022.” Another permit names “Prismatic” as a property owner in the project.
The craft is designed to fly at high altitudes and stay above ground up to a year at a time. In 2021, BAE announced plans to begin flight tests of the vehicle in the United States, where there are potential markets among federal agencies and commercial firms. The company says the vehicles can serve as part of a cellular network as well as intelligence and surveillance, disaster relief and border enforcement operations.
An American spokesperson for BAE would only state,
“The building permits on file with the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department are valid.”
Spaceport director Scott McLaughlin told the governing board at its March 11 meeting that a lease had been executed earlier in the year with a non-disclosed tenant.
Spaceport America – NATHAN J FISH / SUN-NEWS
Spaceport America is a commercial spaceport constructed with $220 million in taxpayer money currently deriving approximately 60 percent of its revenue from customer leases and fees with additional support from state appropriations and local taxes. The spaceport is governed by the New Mexico Spaceport Authority, a public agency.
Spaceflight company Virgin Galactic is the spaceport’s anchor tenant, with other tenants including UP Aerospace, SpinLaunch and HAPSMobile/Aerovironment. The facility also serves a number of other private aerospace companies and hosts an annual rocketry competition, the Spaceport America Cup, taking place in June.
The spaceport is in Sierra County on state land near White Sands Missile Range, with administrative offices in Las Cruces.
Top Photo: The Virgin Galactic Spaceflight System is shown in front of Spaceport America. As the anchor tenant at Spaceport America, Virgin Galactic has two locations in Las Cruces. COURTESY PHOTO / NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY
Source: Las Cruces Sun News