2017年8月25日 星期五

Spaceport America's Ongoing Financial Problems

How much secrecy does Spaceport America need? , Las Cruces Sun News

"Spaceport America hasn't always been so secretive. In addition to releasing Virgin Galactic's lease without redactions before Hicks was in charge, the agency has also shared details about its agreement with SpaceX. Hicks' predecessor, Christine Anderson, was quoted in 2013 as saying SpaceX would be paying $6,600 a month for three years to lease a mobile mission control facility and $25,000 per launch to test a reusable rocket. In other words, today the spaceport is trying to keep secret information it released to the public four years ago that's still available online."

Funding woes could 'cripple' NM spaceport as other states invest in space race, Las Cruces Sun News

"The New Mexico Spaceport Authority, the state agency that operates the facility, has shored up its annual operating budget since 2012 with excess money from taxes collected in Doña Ana and Sierra counties. That's been controversial. Officials pledged to voters who approved the tax increase a decade ago that three-fourths of the money would be used for construction of the facility that was to be built in the desert west of Truth or Consequences. The remaining one fourth of the tax money was pledged to education programs in the two counties. Officials said the state would fund the spaceport's operations."

Transparency problems plague Spaceport America, Las Cruces Sun News

"Spaceport America is a publicly owned government entity, so the law requires its financial and other dealings to be open to the public, with few exceptions. And yet in 2017 the New Mexico Spaceport Authority, the state agency that runs the spaceport, has violated the state's transparency laws several times in response to requests for documents filed by NMPolitics.net, a citizen from Truth or Consequences, and a reporter with KTSM-TV in El Paso. Those violations, in addition to other possible infractions, blocked or delayed public access to information about the spaceport."



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