Spaceport America Launches Academic Excellence
University Students Provide Critical Solutions for the Spaceport Use
In late 2024, Spaceport America created real-world engineering capstone projects for upper-level university students to help in fulfilling their graduation requirements. Eight months later, students from two universities – the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NM Tech) and New Mexico State University (NMSU) – have provided critical solutions for the spaceport to use.
“These projects solve important problems for us and help students get real-world experience.”
Scott McLaughlin, New Mexico Spaceport Authority
For the better part of the 2024-25 academic year, 13 students have been finalizing their capstone projects for Spaceport America under the direction of their academic advisors and Spaceport America aerospace engineer Dr. Joachim Lohn-Jaramillo. A graduate of both Las Cruces High School and New Mexico Tech, Dr. Lohn-Jaramillo returned to New Mexico to work at Spaceport America after completing his Ph.D. at the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College.
The students’ projects, presented at their semester design clinics in late April and early May of 2025, involved designing, testing, and manufacturing equipment to support suborbital rocket launches at Spaceport America. “We are very pleased to support these students and the universities,” said New Mexico Spaceport Authority Executive Director Scott McLaughlin. “These projects solve important problems for us and help students get real-world experience.”
Throughout the academic year, the students worked extensively with Dr. Lohn-Jaramillo and additional New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) personnel to develop various pieces of launch rail equipment and accessories.
One of the projects involved four NM Tech engineering students retrofitting Spaceport America’s rocket motor static test stand to accommodate a launch rail system that can move from a horizontal to vertical launch position. Typically, students and customers bring their own launch rail to Spaceport America, which is time-consuming and costly. The addition of the student-designed launch system will help facilitate future student and commercial launches.
In all, nine students from the NMSU College of Engineering completed two separate capstone projects. The first centered around developing a launch rail adapter that would allow the integration of smaller rockets onto Spaceport America’s full-sized launch rail located at Launch Complex 4 (LC4) of the site’s Vertical Launch Area (VLA).
During the design phase, 3D-printed test parts were successfully fitted onto Spaceport America’s existing launch rail. The NMSU machine shop machined these parts, which the students installed. The rail adapter performed well during a test rocket flight in late April of 2025. The launch operation not only gave the students the chance to perform function verification tests of the adapters, but it also served as a training event for NMSA staff to support commercial operations on its new LC4 rail, which was completed in early 2025. This student launch was the first launch from the new LC4 facility and was accomplished by a student from Grants, N.M.
This launch also highlighted a recent partnership between Spaceport America and the National Association of Rocketry (NAR) club at NMSU, which sanctioned the launch. This partnership allows students to participate in official NAR events and get NAR certifications at Spaceport America. For example, this launch permitted the student to achieve his level two certification from NAR. Spaceport America plans to host NAR events in the future to provide more opportunities to NM students of all ages to get involved in aerospace.
NMSU’s second capstone project was dedicated to designing and fabricating a mockup rocket for NMSA. With an adjustable weight range between 200 and 2,400 pounds, the mock rocket aims to serve as a high-quality training tool for rocket assembly and loading procedures and perform load tests on LC4.
“Supporting STEM is part of our mission, and we are very proud of what these students accomplished,” said Dr. Lohn-Jaramillo. “These Capstone projects offer benefits for everyone involved – universities deliver hands-on, real-world learning, students gain invaluable experience, and the enhancements to Spaceport facilities will help draw future business opportunities.”
These partnerships, including Lohn-Jaramillo’s mentorship, are expected to continue in future academic years, fostering collaborations between regional colleges and Spaceport America. Such initiatives are vital in cultivating the next generation of space and aerospace professionals.