New Mexico Space Port

UP Aerospace (Space Daily) will launch a payload on Aug. 14 (My Dad's 70th Birthday!):

UP Aerospace announced Friday that it has set Aug. 14 as the date of its first commercial space launch from New Mexico's spaceport facility. The company's SpaceLoft XL vehicle will carry more than 50 payloads and experiments from sponsors in the United States and Europe.

"Our 20-foot-tall, single-stage, 800-pound SpaceLoft XL solid-fuel rocket will accelerate to five times the speed of sound - nearly 3,400 miles per hour - in just 13.5 seconds," said Jerry Larson, UP Aerospace president and chief technology officer. "It will reach the international definition of space, 62 miles or 100 kilometers, in just a minute and a half, and a achieve a flight apogee of about 70 miles shortly thereafter."

"The mission includes support from White Sands Missile Range, located just to the east of the Spaceport," Larson said. "Our SpaceLoft XL rocket includes a C-Band transponder that will be tracked by the radars at White Sands, providing the highest quality data possible for use in licensing the Spaceport with the FAA."

The payloads will include contributions from the University of Colorado at Boulder, Brown University (co-developed with AeroAstro,), the University of Hartford, Central Connecticut State University and New Mexico State University, the company said in a news release.

SpaceLoft XL provides a total of 110-pound payload capacity and 10,500 cubic inches of payload volume. The rocket can accommodate payloads up to 10 inches in diameter and 7 feet long and can lift them to an altitude of 140 miles (225 kilometers) with a wide range of micro-gravity options.

The launch will be "just the first of multiple commercial space launches that we will be conducing. Another significant space launch is in October, concurrent with this year's X PRIZE CUP event," said Eric Knight, chief executive officer of UP Aerospace

"In addition to the university payloads, we will also be flying into space over 40 experiments created by high school students from across America," Knight said. "To open the space-access door to students at this level, we've partnered with the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology and the National Aerospace Leadership Initiative. These organizations have established LaunchQuest, a novel program that lets youngsters conduct their own space-flight research."