YOUR DAILY UPDATE FOR MONDAY MAY 20, 2013

SpaceX signs agreement with Spaceport America

Gov. Susana Martinez announced Tuesday, May 7, that Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, or SpaceX, has signed a three-year agreement to lease land and facilities at Spaceport America to conduct the next phase of flight testing for its reusable rocket program. The company will be a new tenant at Spaceport America, the state-owned commercial launch site located in southern New Mexico.
“I am thrilled that SpaceX has chosen to make New Mexico its home, bringing their revolutionary “Grasshopper” rocket and new jobs with them,” Martinez said. “We’ve done a lot of work to level the playing field so we can compete in the space industry. This is just the first step in broadening the base out at the spaceport and securing even more tenants. I’m proud to welcome SpaceX to New Mexico.”
SpaceX has completed its first series of successful, low-altitude tests of the “Grasshopper” vehicle in McGregor, Texas and is proceeding to the next phase of development that includes testing in New Mexico. With Grasshopper, SpaceX engineers are creating technology that will enable a rocket to return to the launch pad intact for a vertical landing, rather than burning up upon reentry in the Earth’s atmosphere.
“Spaceport America offers us the physical and regulatory landscape needed to complete the next phase of Grasshopper testing. We are pleased to expand our reusable rocket development infrastructure to New Mexico,” SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell said.
SpaceX manufactures and launches the world’s most advanced rockets and spacecraft. The company was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk to revolutionize space transportation, with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets. Today, SpaceX is advancing the boundaries of space technology through its Falcon launch vehicles and Dragon spacecraft. SpaceX is a private company owned by management and employees, with minority investments from Founders Fund, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Valor Equity Partners. The company has more than 3,000 employees in California, Texas, Washington D.C., and Florida.

Carruthers selected for NMSU presidency

The breadth of experience by Garrey Carruthers as a former state governor, in private business, as a New Mexico State University graduate, professor and successful dean of the College of Business, tipped the scales in favor of a majority of regents voting to name him as the next permanent president, despite 11th-hour criticisms of his past associations. Two regents, who are Democrats, were not at Monday's final vote in person, but made statements by phone in favor of former NMSU professor Dan Howard, who is currently the arts and sciences dean for the University of Colorado-Denver.

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