Spaceport America recently asked state lawmakers for $2 million in funding at a recent committee meeting.

Executive director of Spaceport America Scott McLaughlin asked for the funding during the interim Finance Authority Oversight Committee meeting held on Aug. 3, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.

McLaughlin is banking on the FAA-licensed spaceport located on 18,000 acres of state land to be a tourist destination as the company is on its way to becoming a major economic development source for the state.

“People are going to fly from New Mexico, and people right below are going to watch,” McLaughlin told lawmakers this week. “They’re going to drive out to Spaceport New Mexico to watch.”

People will drive out to Sierra County to watch the airport’s launches, which in turn will bring in money to nearby communities, he added.

Most of the state’s lawmakers on the committee are seeking further intel before they decide to approve the funding, however, Sen. Joe Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, has stated he would support the request at the Aug. 3 meeting.

“You need $2 million in your budget. I’ll support that,” said Cervantes.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reported the state has paid roughly two-thirds of the $200 million-plus in construction costs for Spaceport America’s facility with the rest of the funding coming from  a gross receipts tax approved by Sierra and Doña Ana counties.

Spaceport America annual budget is approximately $10 million and was formerly Southwest Regional Spaceport located in the Jornada del Muerto desert basin.

The objective for the company is to present educational engagement involving spaceport activities in order to cultivate a workforce to develop critical skills employed during spaceport operations.

The company works with educators across the state to cultivate a robust science, technology, engineering and mathematics curriculum in and out of the classrooms.

Last month the spaceport hosted Virgin Galactic's Richard Branson’s first commercial passenger spaceflight.