New Mexico Chamber CEO: State ‘well-positioned’ to take advantage of burgeoning space industry

(The Center Square) – With Virgin Galactic launching the inaugural commercial space flight, New Mexico looks to embrace a burgeoning industry that could bring more business opportunities into the state.

Space tourism is shaping up to be a big component of that.

Rob Black, president and CEO of the New Mexico Chamber of Commerce, said that will bring in a lot of high-wealth individuals.

“They will be in New Mexico for up to a week at a time, because they’ll come and do astronaut training, and their family will be there,” Black told The Center Square. “And their family won’t be doing astronaut training, so they’ll have the opportunity to go visit Truth or Consequences, hot springs or a variety of different locations in New Mexico, and I think that’s going to be important for our tourism.”

Hotels and state parks won’t be the only ones benefiting, however.

Another side to the space industry is the technology support.

Black said he expects low-orbit satellites and microwave and laser technologies, which already have a strong presence in New Mexico, to continue to grow in support of the state’s space activity.

Boeing’s Starliner will be landing in White Sands as well, making deliveries of satellites among other things, said Black.

“That’s going to be another component of what’s going to drive activity here in New Mexico,” he said. “We’re already a hub for a lot of especially low-earth satellite manufacturing and deployment here in the state, so I think those industries will continue to prosper.”

New Mexico is the only state with two national laboratories, Sandia and Los Alamos. Black anticipates those backing the growth of supporting technology as well.

As the economy continues to recover from the pandemic, Black said businesses are working to staff up and prepare to take advantage of this new industry.

“We’re well-positioned with our vaccine rate to take advantage of it from a post-COVID side,” he said.

Black also pointed to the work NewSpace New Mexico is doing to create a co-innovation hub to foster the growth of New Mexico’s space industry

“They just received a very large federal grant to help with technology transfer from the air force into the private sector to really start that commercialization in a meaningful way,” he said.

New Mexico has a storied history with space dating back to the 1920s, and Black is excited to see the next chapter unfold.

“I think we’ve got a variety of pieces that are contributing to what I think will be a really important part of our economy going forward,” he said.

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