The loss of a spaceport pioneer

Lonnie Sumpter, executive director of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority, passed away Tuesday after a brief illness, the Las Cruces Sun-News reports. Sumpter had been involved with efforts to establish a spaceport in New Mexico since the early 1990s, and got to see his efforts finally realized with the development of Spaceport America, which hosted—albeit in rudimentary form—its first launch last September for UP Aerospace. “He was like a kid in a sandbox when he was launch director for the UP Aerospace launch,” Rick Homans, secretary of the state’s Economic Development Department. “He was so excited these last few years to see these dreams of a spaceport come to fruition.”