Aerospace/Aviation Industry

Rapidly expanding opportunities in commercial spaceflight and the increased demand for Unmanned Aeiral Systems (UAS), the New Mexico Borderplex is gaining respect in aerospace and space related industries. Examples of aerospace centers in the New Mexico Borderplex:

Spaceport America

The nation’s first purpose-built commercial space facility. It has an average elevation of 4,500 feet and a lack of conflicting operations, facilities and environmental constraints. Designed to accommodate all classes of aircraft including wide body commercial aircraft, Spaceport America is also used by numerous private companies and scientific and engineering research programs. The site will soon be capable of accommodating the activities of both vertical and horizontal takeoff space launch vehicles and serve as the base for preflight and postflight activities.

White Sands Missile Range

Established in 1945, White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) is a test range that functions to support missile development and test programs for the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, NASA, other government agencies and private industry. It is the largest open-air land test range in the country and boasts state-of-the-art environmental testing chambers, an extensive data collection instrumentation suite and data processing and modeling & simulation (M&S) facilities.

NASA White Sands Test Facility

The NASA White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) provides expertise and infrastructure to test and evaluate spacecraft materials, components and rocket propulsion systems. WSTF plays a key role in the nation’s space effort and enables the safe human exploration and utilization of space.

New Mexico State University Physical Science Laboratory

Physical Science Laboratory (PSL) is a multidiscipline, aerospace and defense-oriented scientific and technical organization.  Its key capabilities are grouped into four laboratories:  Information Operations Laboratory, Aerospace and Autonomous Systems Laboratory, Telemetry and Missile Systems Laboratory and Emerging Technologies Laboratory.

Las Cruces International Airport

Las Cruces International Airport is the only small community airport in U.S. to be certified by the FAA to test UAV’s.