It\u2019s all go for Spaceport America.<\/p>\n
According to Christine Armstrong, executive director of the Spaceport Authority, five hundred people are already signed up to fly into space with Virgin Galactic, at a ticket price of $200,000 apiece.\u00a0 A grand visitor center is scheduled to open in 2013.\u00a0 Since the spaceport is several miles from I-25, two welcome centers will be constructed convenient to the highway, and shuttle buses will take visitors from those centers to the spaceport itself.\u00a0 After the current bond issues expire, the facility has a plan to be self-supporting.<\/p>\n
New Mexico has to do just one more little thing for the space industry.\u00a0 It\u2019s not quite enough that we built them a spaceport with taxpayer money.\u00a0 The state has to guarantee that their passengers won\u2019t sue them.\u00a0 Or, I should say, their passengers\u2019 heirs, if the passengers\u00a0 \u2013 since we\u2019re speaking plainly \u2013 get killed on the trip, whether vaporized by a collision with an asteroid or whatever.\u00a0 \u00a0It\u2019s not the spaceship operators we have to protect.\u00a0 New Mexico has already done that. \u00a0This next one is for the suppliers to the spaceship operators.<\/p>\n
New Mexico enacted the Space Flight Informed Consent Act in 2010.\u00a0 Under this law, the space flight operator is held harmless by the passenger for any accident in space.\u00a0\u00a0 The passenger will have signed an informed consent document before boarding the flight.\u00a0 But three other states \u2013 Texas, Florida and Virginia — have extended this protection to suppliers,\u00a0 companies that provide products and services to the spaceship operators and could share liability in an accident.\u00a0 Armstrong said those companies will not locate in New Mexico unless we extend that protection to them, also.\u00a0 As she presented it, New Mexico has no choice.\u00a0 Enact the extended protection or else.<\/p>\n
We can expect to see this introduced in the 2012 legislative session.\u00a0 After spending $200 million building the darn thing, the sensible thing is to protect the state\u2019s investment and pass the bill.\u00a0 To borrow a hackneyed phrase, since we built it, we want them to come.<\/p>\n
As Hold Harmless protections go, this one is not unreasonable.\u00a0 After all, space flight is still in its infancy and anybody who boards a commercial space flight is taking a big risk.\u00a0 But it does lead to some reflection.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s yet another instance of the economic development rivalry game, in which privileged industries play state and local governments off against each other for special protections and benefits.\u00a0\u00a0 In the competition for jobs and economic growth, governments fall all over themselves helping these industries.\u00a0 The recent move to reduce New Mexico\u2019s incentives to the film industry was the rare exception, and we all know it remains wildly controversial.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s selective tort reform, again for the benefit of a privileged industry.\u00a0 When a Hold Harmless is in place, the protected industry is relieved of some worry and a great deal of potential expense, including a whole lot of insurance that will not be needed.\u00a0\u00a0 Wouldn\u2019t we all love to have such a protection \u2013 except, of course, when we are the injured party?<\/p>\n
At the same time, the 2010 statute makes an exception to the exemption for gross negligence or wanton disregard of safety.\u00a0 Translation:\u00a0 there\u2019s still potential for a personal injury suit if the wing falls off the spaceship, but it requires a legally sufficient demonstration of extreme carelessness.<\/p>\n
Armstrong noted, by the way, the law applies only to the fully informed passengers.\u00a0 If you are a mere earthling minding your own business on the ground and a piece of debris from the space ship tears through your house, you can still sue for damages.\u00a0 The Hold Harmless doesn\u2019t apply to you.\u00a0 Take comfort.<\/p>\n
\u00a9 New Mexico News Services 2011<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s all go for Spaceport America. According to Christine Armstrong, executive director of the Spaceport Authority, five hundred people are already signed up to fly into space with Virgin Galactic, at a ticket price of $200,000 apiece.\u00a0 A grand visitor … Continue reading