Starchaser finally announces plans for space facility

After a major shakeup a few months ago, Starchaser Industries, Inc. has finally acquired land in Southern New Mexico, becoming the third space-industry company to announce plans to locate major facilities here.

Talks with the City of Las Cruces to secure land at its West Mesa Industrial Park fell apart about the same time the company replaced its North America staff members, all based in Las Cruces.

A deal to purchase land near Hatch for an astronaut training facility also never came to fruition.

Now the company is announcing that it will build rocket manufacturing and astronaut training facilities and retail, lodging and entertainment areas on a 120-acre site located 16 miles west of the Las Cruces International Airport on Interstate 10, according to articles in the Las Cruces Sun-News and Albuquerque Journal.

The Southwest Regional Spaceport at Upham is going to be built. The more companies that commit money and time to help the project succeed, the better.

Starchaser’s 10-year, $100 million project will be privately financed and create as many as 300 full-time jobs. Apparently, the company has already purchased 25 acres and secured the rights to purchase the rest.

Starchaser plans immediate renovations to existing buildings, and will have corporate offices and some retail stores operational later this year.

The company eventually plans to launch paying customers into suborbital space on bumpy rides for thrill-seekers that will cost more than $150,000 per ticket, a big price drop from Virgin Galactic’s initial cost of $200,000 per ticket.

Virgin Galactic’s facility at Upham will be publicly financed, but the state and company say Virgin Galactic will pay that money back over the course of a 20-year lease. The Rocket Racing League plans to build its headquarters at the Las Cruces airport, thanks to a land donation from the city.