Spaceport America calls itself “the world’s first purpose-built industrial spaceport.” It was funded with an estimated $200 million funding from the New Mexico state authorities and supplied the bottom for Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, which has launched people into outer area from this facility.
In accordance with the Feds, Spaceport America might also be hiding a pirate radio station.
On Could 24 the Federal Communications Fee’s enforcement arm despatched a discover to Spaceport America alleging that their Denver workplace is investigating a grievance about an “unlicensed FM broadcast station working on frequencies 95.3 MHz and 96.3 MHz”:
“An Agent from the Denver Workplace confirmed that unauthorized radio alerts had been transmitted on frequencies 95.3 MHzx and 96.3 MHz from the Spaceport America property situated between Las Cruces and Reality or Penalties, New Mexico, between June 21 and June 25, 2022 in the course of the Spaceport America Cup 2022 occasion.”
The letter — usually the primary discover of an open investigation and warning previous to enforcement — states that continued broadcasting from the positioning may result in a fine in excess of $2 million.
Enabled with new powers by Congress beneath the industry-friendly PIRATE Act, the FCC has lately been dispatching a sheaf of enforcement letters like this, targeting a station catering to New York City Ecuadorians and one other pirate radio station allegedly transmitting from a church.
Investigation of Spaceport America is much more egregious, although, because the spaceport is owned and operated by the state of New Mexico itself.
Regardless of terrestrial radio’s decline as a medium, the PIRATE Act (a retronym for “Stopping Unlawful Radio Abuse By way of Enforcement”) gave FCC investigators the power to impose draconian punishments – as much as $100,000 per day (up from $10,000) capped at $2 million. The invoice additionally mandated yearly “sweeps” by FCC investigators to find any pirates which will have slipped by the cracks.
By coincidence, Richard Branson — who gained his first notoriety within the music {industry} and later launched Virgin Radio — was on website at Spaceport America a day after the letter was despatched, posting a selfie with the most recent Virgin Galactic launch:
Proud to be at Spaceport America as @VirginGalactic flew again to area immediately: https://t.co/GgJMhkWmf9 #Unity25 pic.twitter.com/275MJHxDX6
— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) May 25, 2023
Photograph: By Land Rover MENA – Land Rover Discovery Sport | Behind the Scenes, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36593641
