{"id":970,"date":"2006-12-08T11:32:00","date_gmt":"2006-12-08T17:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/12\/x-prize-cup-may-make-partial-move-to-holloman\/"},"modified":"2006-12-08T11:32:00","modified_gmt":"2006-12-08T17:32:00","slug":"x-prize-cup-may-make-partial-move-to-holloman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/12\/x-prize-cup-may-make-partial-move-to-holloman\/","title":{"rendered":"X Prize Cup may make partial move to Holloman"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In part because the Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> airport can\u2019t accommodate the growth of the X Prize Cup<\/a> without a costly expansion, parts of the event will likely to move to Holloman Air Force Base in 2007. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Though it was light on details, the X Prize announced Thursday<\/a> a potential expansion into Otero<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place> for the October event.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what\u2019s really going on:<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The Las Cruces<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> airport was never meant to be a permanent home for the event, which will move to Spaceport America<\/a> as soon as it\u2019s constructed. There are logistical problems at the airport that prevent organizers from expanding the X Prize Cup if they continue to hold the entire event there.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

For starters, there isn\u2019t enough parking. Those who attended the events in 2005 and 2006 had to park at the nearby fairgrounds and be bussed to the event \u2013 a cumbersome and costly task.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

In addition, the airport lacks some needed infrastructure. For example, for the group\u2019s Lunar Lander Challenge, only one vehicle can take off at a time from the airport. At Holloman, several could take off at once.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

And the airport doesn\u2019t have an FAA license to launch into space. As a military installation, Holloman doesn\u2019t need one.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

White<\/st1:placename> Sands<\/st1:placename> Missile<\/st1:placename> Range<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place> was to be the original, temporary home of the X Prize Cup until the spaceport was built, but logistical problems prevented that. Still, organizers are again talking with WSMR, in addition to Holloman, to find the best options.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The hope is that the X Prize Cup can work out a 3- or 4-year plan to continue its growth at temporary facilities until it can move to the spaceport in approximately 2010.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Las Cruces<\/st1:city> will still be the host city of the event, and much of the weeklong series of events surrounding the X Prize Cup will be held here, including New Mexico<\/st1:placename> State<\/st1:placetype> University<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place>\u2019s space symposium. The Rocket Racing League\u2019s first race and other events will still be held at the Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> airport in 2007.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

But, if all goes as planned, some of the events that require hefty infrastructure will most likely move to Holloman, located less than an hour away.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

State officials see this as an opportunity to show voters in Otero<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place> that the spaceport will benefit them as well, and hope it will help convince them to approve a gross receipts tax increase to help fund the spaceport. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In part because the Las Cruces airport can\u2019t accommodate the growth of the X Prize Cup without a costly expansion, parts of the event will likely to move to Holloman Air Force Base in 2007. Though it was light on details, the X Prize announced Thursday a potential expansion into Otero County for the October […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/970\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}