March 31 News Items

Groups Fight Over Future of Spaceport as Tax Vote Nears (Source: Las Cruces Sun-News)
As a Doña Ana County spaceport tax election nears, campaign efforts are gaining momentum. Spaceport tax supporters have door-to-door stumping efforts planned for the weekend, and some opponents will picket in front of the Doña Ana County Government Center. The Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce — which backs a tax increase — sent out an e-mail to members this week seeking volunteers. Vado resident Mitch Boyer, who opposes the spaceport tax, said a community group plans to hold signs opposing the tax and will take voters to the polls on Tuesday.

Virginia Governor Supports Space Legislation (Source: Spaceports Blog)
Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine has offered an amended version of the Virginia Spaceflight Liability and Immunity Act, with the support of its legislative sponsor. The revised measure is expected to pass at the April 4 reconvened session of the 2007 General Assembly. The landmark legislation should lower insurance costs for human-rated commercial space launch firms that opt to use the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport for space tourist flights as well as provide some measure of protection to the commercial space launch firm in the event of the worst case flight scenario.

The Spaceflight Liability and Immunity Act will become effective July 1, 2007 until July 1, 2013 when it is anticipated that the FAA will begin to review possible spaceflight passenger regulations. The bill enjoys the support of the Personal Spaceflight Federation, consisting of space launch firms including SpaceX, t/Space, Virgin Galactic, XCOR Aerospace, Space Adventures, Space Dev, Air Launch, Kistler Aerospace, Rocketplane, Armadillo Aerospace, Scaled Composites, Bigelow Aerospace, and others. The bill is posted here.