The executive director of the state Spaceport Authority reminded New Mexicans on Sunday that the facility near Las Cruces isn't being constructed just so movie stars and the idle rich can fly off into the great beyond.

"It's not about rich people (going) to space," Steve Landeene told a smattering of people who showed up in the Roundhouse Rotunda for his update on construction and current operations of Spaceport America, the Earth launch pad for private satellites and other commercial payloads.

Landeene's appearance was part of Las Cruces Day at the Legislature today. Landeene will make his presentation again at noon at a gathering for lawmakers and others at the Hotel Santa Fe sponsored by the Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce.

His Santa Fe visit comes only days after the state Senate Judiciary Committee tabled the agency's request for informed-consent legislation (Senate Bill 9). The measure would indemnify private companies from lawsuits stemming from injuries or deaths caused by the inherent risks and the new technologies involved in space travel.

Landeene said lawmakers wanted more details on the legislation and that he was working to provide it. However, he noted that because of the short session, it may not be until the next session that the measure will come up for a vote again.

He said the legislation is critical to the success of the spaceport because the federal government requires states to enact such measures so that companies, such as Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic company that will use the spaceport, can purchase liability insurance.

He noted that Virginia and Florida have already passed informed consent measures and that similar legislation is pending in the Texas Legislature.

All three are states that would be competing for the business of commercial space travelers.

"The industrialization of space is upon us," Landeene said.

In 2005, Virgin Galactic and the state of New Mexico announced a joint venture that has seen the building of a state-funded spaceport on 27 square miles in the southern part of the state.

Gallactic's financial commitment is expected to be $250 million over the next 10 years.

Aaron Prescott, the Spaceport Authority's chief of staff, said Galactic has commitments from 300 would-be citizen astronauts who have put up $250,000 each as their payment for a hopefully round-trip shot into space.

Travelers can book their trip online at www.virgingalactic.com.

Galactic unveiled its first spacecraft in December with Gov. Bill Richardson and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger doing the christening honors. The passenger craft, named the VSS Enterprise, will be able to take off from and land at the spaceport.

The state has contributed $140 million toward development of the spaceport, with $58 million in gross receipts taxes coming from the spaceport tax district composed of Sierra and Doña Ana counties.

"This wasn't a 'build it and they will come' " project, Landeene said.

He said taxes paid by spaceport workers and construction crews will soon have returned $18 million to $25 million to the state.

Construction of a 10,000-foot-long runway is expected to be finished in June of this year, with completion of the spaceport in early 2011.

A Spaceport America brochure accompanying Landeene's presentation notes several accomplishments in 2009, including UP Aerospace and Lockheed Martin's launch of a test flight vehicle, several test flights by Virgin Galactic, and the first 'hard-hat tours" of the spaceport. Construction is expected to begin soon on a 110,000-square-foot terminal hangar facility.

The spaceport is expected to employ more than 600 workers "right off the bat," Landeene said, with even more people employed in related and support businesses.

He said the state's universities, science labs and other businesses and interests will all contribute to and benefit from the spaceport, and that the facility will draw space-based companies from around the world.

"It's about the space powerhouse that New Mexico is," Landeene said.