New Space New Mexico is a nonprofit that was created to help grow the space business in the state by bringing together all of the key players for space innovation.
“We unite and ignite space,” Casey Anglada Deraad, CEO of New Space New Mexico, told KOB. “We unite by bringing many, many stakeholders together. The ignite is to really put resources in place for the companies to help them innovate faster.”
Deraad created the nonprofit in 2018 for like-minded people to collaborate, support each other and ultimately speed up the innovation process for interstellar technology.
"I just saw that there were so many barriers for companies to undertake," Deraad said.
The organization now provides workspaces, connections and resources to more than 240 New Space Alliance members, KOB reported.
“We lead a national level space industrial base conference with the Space Force, Defense Innovation Unit, Air Force Research Lab, now NASA is one of the key partners,” Deraad said. “New Mexico is the nexus for the new space race.”
New Space New Mexico supports young companies like Unmanned Systems of America, which develops drones that companies and government agencies will soon use to save lives during search and rescue missions, fires, floods or other natural disasters
“It’s really cool collaborative space that you can both meet people and develop your technology,” Justin Carr, owner and CEO of Unmanned Systems of America, told KOB.
Founding partners of New Space New Mexico include the state of New Mexico, Virgin Galactic, the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Space Force Space Rapid Capabilities Office, among others.
"Through Unite & Ignite Space, a first-of-its-kind co-innovation hub, stakeholders gain access to workspaces, equipment, programming, rapid prototyping and demonstration, and resources needed for innovation and rapid progress," according to the group's website. "Services include access to space ecosystem knowledge, public events and networking; navigation services that provide tailored guidance and direct assistance to fast-track business growth; and collaborative innovation services that ignite product and solution development."
To learn more about New Space New Mexico or for information about how to get involved, visit the nonprofit's website, newspacenm.org.