X Prize Cup to expand, move to Holloman AFB

Officials announced Thursday an expanded X Prize Cup this year that is expected to draw more than 100,000 people.

To allow for the larger crowds and bigger events, the bulk of the annual showcase of the developing commercial space industry will be held at Holloman Air Force Base outside Alamogordo.

The first two years, the event was held at Las Cruces International Airport.

This year, the International Symposium for Personal Spaceflight, put on by New Mexico State University, will be held Oct. 24 and 25 at the Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum in Las Cruces. On Oct. 26, officials will hold an education and media day at Holloman and, on Oct. 27 and 28, they’ll hold the air and space show at the Air Force base.

Officials, according to a news release, believe the expansion to a more suitable facility will allow for an increase in attendees from last year’s 15,000 to more than 100,000 this year, including more than 10,000 school children.

The move also builds into the event an air show put on by Holloman that will showcase the Air Force’s top jets. It allows for the expansion of the X Prize Foundation’s Lunar Lander Challenge to include a number of new teams fighting for a $2 million prize by developing a craft that can land on the moon.

The logistics were a huge deal. The Las Cruces airport wasn’t really suited for even 15,000 visitors. The annual event will eventually move to Spaceport America, once it’s built, but the move to Holloman was logical.

There’s a political angle, too: Many people in Otero County aren’t as connected to the spaceport project as those in Sierra and Doña Ana counties, and officials were worried a tax increase to help fund the spaceport might not be approved there.

This event is designed in part to excite them about the spaceport.

At the same time, officials are still calling Las Cruces the host city of the event – in part because, logistically, its hotel rooms and other infrastructure will be needed to accommodate all the visitors, in part because it’s the central location between Holloman and Upham, and in part because officials don’t want residents in Doña Ana County to feel like they aren’t a part of the spaceport project.

Officials had previously announced that part of the event would move to Holloman this year, but the first details were provided Thursday.