LAS CRUCES - The 15th annual International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight brought hundreds of educators, industry leaders and technical specialists to Las Cruces once again this week.

The symposium was founded in 2005 by Patricia Hynes, who until last year was also director of the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium.

This year's ISPCS agenda began Monday in Las Cruces when NASA brought its annual iTech Forum toHotel Encanto de Las Cruces for the first time. The two-day event commingles private investors and technology developers, with an eye for inventions and talent of use to NASA's mission.

Then, the two-day symposium convened Wednesday at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum on Dripping Springs Road, within sight of the Tortugas Mountain Observatory on Tortugas "A" Mountain.

Those remaining in Las Cruces Friday had an opportunity to take a shuttle north for a tour of Spaceport America, located in the Jornada del Muerto desert basin in Sierra County.

The conference brought together aerospace experts, educators and business professionals at a time when the next phase of a nascent commercial space travel industry appears close to launching from New Mexico terrain.

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Lecturers and panelists delved into topics ranging from emerging technologies to developing industries and business models and to the likely directions law and policy will take as the economics of commercial space take shape.

Here are five takeaways from the conference for non-experts:

1. Commercial space industry is not just for tourists

Virgin Galactic, anchor tenant of Spaceport America, has earned publicity for recent steps toward its goal of bringing the first commercial passengers to space; but commercial spaceflight portends more than a fleeting experience for a small number of tourists.

Presentations over two days addressed technological, manufacturing and service industries related to national security, logistical and freight services, research payloads, satellite technology, and training and career development.

Several discussions touched on point-to-point travel via space, in which cargo and/or people might take off in New Mexico and land at a spaceport elsewhere on Earth.

Virginia-based aerospace consultant Herbert Zucker, attending the conference for the fourth time, said the gathering introduced him to an eclectic yet "intimate" group of spaceport administrators, launch providers and researchers, as well as entrepreneurs and corporate executives from manufacturing, finance and the hospitality industry.

More: NASA iTech Forum draws aerospace innovators to Las Cruces

Zucker agreed with projections that commercial space will develop into a "trillion-dollar industry" in the near term, with interest by private investors growing rapidly. The varied perspectives shared at the symposium would assist, Zucker said, in "creating a business model that can reduce costs over time."

2. NMSU is positioning itself for the 'space economy'

New Mexico State University Chancellor Dan Arvizu spoke to the conference Wednesday about the university's historical contributions to aerospace research, and strengthening links between the university and the Sandia National Laboratories.

Sandia opened a facility at the university's Physical Science Laboratory in August, and Arvizu told the audience he hoped to "hit the reset button" on the 73-year-old research facility as a center for commercial and governmental research and development of rocketry, telemetry and security technologies, while also providing students with opportunities to earn security clearances and take their place as "the next generation of scientific professionals."

Arvizu also promoted the university's nonprofit Arrowhead Center, where Spaceport America moved into a suite of offices last month, as an entrepreneurial hive "that allows us, for the purposes of economic development, to move more quickly, outside of the normal purviews of state bureaucratic processes."

3. Spaceports are diversifying

The Federal Aviation Administration has licensed 12 spaceports in the United States, and as the community of spaceports grows, facilities are being designed with an eye toward diversifying services.

George Nield, president of Commercial Space Technologies, said spaceports have much to contribute to the developing commercial space industry — and how the public understands it.

"Instead of just viewing spaceports as locations from which launches and re-entries are conducted," Nield said Thursday, "I think it is important also to recognize that they can serve as focal points, technology hubs, to support things like space manufacturing, research and technology efforts, education and training, workforce development and point-to-point transportation."

4. Spaceport America getting busier

Spaceport America CEO Dan Hicks said each spaceport has unique features, and he listed several for New Mexico's facility: a high altitude in an area with low population density, fair weather almost year-round, and access to the nearby White Sands Missile Range's restricted air space.

More: Virgin Galactic presents first look at facilities at Spaceport America

The number of launches from Spaceport America's vertical launch facility has passed 300, Hicks said, with 74 of those commercial launches. Many of the remaining launches are due to the annual rocketry competition, the Spaceport America Cup, hosted at the spaceport. (We'll come back to the cup in a moment.)

The purpose-built spaceport also has a horizontal launch facility, where Virgin Galactic is now running test flights to prepare for commercial passenger flights to space. In the spaceline's horizontal launches, the spacecraft is carried by a specially designed aircraft into the air, from which it launches and completes its ascent into space.

Finally, the spaceport offers an Advanced Technology Area for research and testing, which is where the California-based SpinLaunch is developing a launch system just as described by the company's name: The company's centrifugal system spins a vehicle on the ground until it reaches hypersonic speed, and then launches it into space.

Hicks said SpinLaunch is the only tenant working in the ATA for now, but there is room for more.

5. Spaceport America Cup set to grow

One of the largest recurring events at the Las Cruces Convention Center is set to grow larger still.

In June, the third annual Spaceport America Cup packed the convention center with 113 collegiate teams from 14 countries exhibiting rockets and design plans, and answering questions about their teams' research and mission goals.

The missions that pass judges' muster progress to the spaceport for competitive launches over three days, before returning to the convention center for awards and closing ceremonies.

Hicks said registrations for this year's competition were capped at about 124 teams because of a lack of judges, but the Experimental Sounding Rocket Association, which organizes the event, plans to raise the cap for next year's competition "to about 200" with the expectation that some 175 teams would participate.

Thankfully, the convention center completed a 17,000-foot expansion in August.

Edited video from this year's ISPCS lectures and panels will be made available on the symposium's website, www.ispcs.com.

Algernon D'Ammassa can be reached at 575-541-5451, adammassa@lcsun-news.com or @AlgernonWrites on Twitter.