{"id":409027,"date":"2017-08-24T06:57:50","date_gmt":"2017-08-24T12:57:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=409027"},"modified":"2017-08-25T07:12:53","modified_gmt":"2017-08-25T13:12:53","slug":"how-much-secrecy-does-spaceport-america-need","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2017\/08\/how-much-secrecy-does-spaceport-america-need\/","title":{"rendered":"How much secrecy does Spaceport America need?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jonathan

Josh Bachman \/ Las Cruces Sun-News<\/p>

Jonathan Firth, Virgin Galactic\u2019s executive vice president for spaceport and program development, said the company needs some secrecy, especially for things like estimated flight schedules and technology development. But his response made clear that not all companies are demanding the level of secrecy that Spaceport America officials want in New Mexico.<\/p><\/div>\n

The spaceport wants the ability to keep all sorts of information secret and is already shielding most\u00a0companies’ rent payments\u00a0from the public<\/em><\/h4>\n

You don\u2019t have a right to know how much money companies that do business at Spaceport America pay to use the publicly owned facility, officials there say.<\/p>\n

In fact, the spaceport wants the ability to keep all sorts of information secret, including the identities of commercial space companies doing business there.<\/p>\n

The growing commercial space industry is hypercompetitive. Publicly releasing rent payments, lease agreements and other information harms the spaceport\u2019s efforts to recruit companies, N.M. Spaceport Authority CEO Dan Hicks says \u2013 and that makes it more challenging to grow the spaceport and build a stronger economy in southern New Mexico.<\/p>\n