NM B I Z B U Z Z : the Business of New Mexico

Alamogordo News: SpaceShipOne launches X prize competition Beginning in 2006, X Prize competitions will be held in New Mexico at the Southwest Regional Spaceport at Upham, 45 miles north of Las Cruces. But until the spaceport is ready, teams may launch from anywhere in the world.
Currently 27 teams from throughout the world are in the competition. At the moment, SpaceShipOne is in the lead, making the first private attempt ever to achieve spaceflight.
Rutan is well-known for previous aviation firsts, especially his 1986 non-stop flight around the world without refueling.
Paul Allen co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates in Albuquerque in 1975. Allen is a sometime Santa Fean, having purchased the 20-acre Sol y Sombra estate on Old Santa Fe Trail, which formerly was owned by Georgia O’Keeffe. Allen is funding Rutan’s entire operation.

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