"NM AVIATION & AEROSPACE DAY"

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A MEMORIAL
DECLARING JANUARY 27, 2026 "NEW MEXICO AVIATION AND AEROSPACE
DAY" IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
WHEREAS, New Mexico is the birthplace of the United
States space and missile programs; and
WHEREAS, emergency services such as wildfire suppression
and medical evacuation operations rely on aviation as a vital
lifeline to protect the lives and property of New Mexico
residents; and
WHEREAS, aviation and aerospace play a critical role in
the lives and safety of New Mexico residents and impact
virtually every sector of the New Mexico economy, such as
agriculture, ranching, the film industry, health and medical
fields, manufacturing, recreation, travel, tourism, banking
and retail business; and
WHEREAS, New Mexico is home to more than eighty
innovative aerospace companies performing satellite component
and rocket design, aerospace part manufacturing, space launch
and data analytics; and
WHEREAS, commercial aerospace in New Mexico provides
considerable economic and employment impacts of more than
three hundred million dollars ($300,000,000) and more than
eight thousand jobs; and
WHEREAS, the three major federal research laboratories
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in New Mexico have a combined annual budget of more than six
billion dollars ($6,000,000,000) and employ more than twenty-
one thousand people; and
WHEREAS, New Mexico is home to flight testing facilities
with access to more than six thousand square miles of
restricted airspace, four major United States military
installations and twenty federal, state and privately funded
laboratories; and
WHEREAS, New Mexico is ranked in the top three states
for drone-friendly skies; and
WHEREAS, New Mexico is home to many superb sites of air
and space activity, including the United States army's White
Sands missile range, the national aeronautics and space
administration's White Sands test facility, Kirtland air
force base, the space rapid capabilities office, the air
force research laboratory, Sandia national laboratories, Los
Alamos national laboratory and New Mexico state university's
physical science laboratory; and
WHEREAS, New Mexico is home to the world's first
purpose-built commercial spaceport, spaceport America, which
hosts suborbital launches and someday will host launches to
orbit; and
WHEREAS, New Mexico is home to leading research
universities, including the New Mexico institute of mining
and technology, which operates the Magdalena research
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observatory and the very large array; the university of New
Mexico, which is home to the institute of meteoritics; and
New Mexico state university, which is a core member of both
the federal aviation administration center of excellence for
commercial space transportation and the center for excellence
for unmanned aircraft systems; and
WHEREAS, New Mexico will continue to lead in aerospace
education through its superb science, technology, engineering
and mathematics education programs and world-class research
universities; and
WHEREAS, the New Mexico airport managers' association
and the New Mexico chapter of the aerospace states
association are sponsoring today's events to highlight the
contribution of the aviation and aerospace communities in New
Mexico;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the
contributions and technological achievements of the aviation
and aerospace communities in New Mexico be recognized by
proclaiming January 27, 2026 as "New Mexico Aviation and
Aerospace Day" in the house of representatives.