The Las Cruces Sun-News reports that the New Mexico Spaceport Authority has endorsed a lower price tag for Spaceport America, the new commercial spaceport the state plans to build in southern New Mexico. The facility, previously estimated to cost $225 million, is now expected to cost “only” $198 million. The primary factor in the reduced cost is the removal of one of two runways originally planned for the spaceport. Not having a second runway doesn’t jeopardize the operations of the spaceport, and it can be added later if there’s sufficient demand. The announcement comes two weeks before voters in three counties go to the polls to vote on a tax referendum that would help pay for the spaceport. Releasing the new cost estimate for the spaceport now is intended to demonstrate “that we’re on track and that we have a cost estimate that meets the conditions that were set,” said Rick Homans, director of economic development for the state; one of the conditions set by Doña Ana County earlier this month requires the spaceport’s cost not to exceed $225 million. Early voting on the referendum has already started in the county, with about 1,500 people casting ballots in advance of the April 3 election.
[…] The Las Cruces Sun-News reports that the state is close to a final lease agreement with Virgin Galactic for the spaceport, although state officials wouldn’t set a timetable for the completion of the agreement. That agreement was one of three conditions that officials in Doña Ana County set on the upcoming local tax referendum. Earlier this week state officials sought to reassure votes that the spaceport cost would not exceed $225 million, another condition on the deal. (The third is obtaining an FAA spaceport license, which is in progress.) The article also notes that the next launch from the spaceport by UP Aerospace, whose inaugural launch in September ended in failure, will now take place no earlier than April. […]