HOUSE MEMORIAL 19

57th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2026

INTRODUCED BY

Dayan Hochman-Vigil

 

 

 

 

 

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 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 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.

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