Spaceport America reports a successful launch

It's a small step for mankind, but a giant step for Spaceport America.

According to a release from the New Mexico Spaceport Authority, UP Aerospace ("Space is 62 miles away, Getting there is just a phone call away") successfully launched a "test flight vehicle" on Wednesday.

The Spaceport, which is near Las Cruces, N.M., is the future home of Virgin Galactic, as well as the XPrize Cup.

Spaceport America, near Las Cruces, NM, is home to the XPrize Cup and Virgin Galactic, among others. On Wednesday, it hosted a successful low-altitude test launch by UP Aerospace.

(Credit: Spaceport America)

UP Aerospace, according to its Web site, is in the business of selling cargo space on launch vehicles.

The release said that the Wednesday launch was private, and reached its intended altitude of 2,500 feet. Which, if you're counting, is a wee bit short of 62 miles high.

Still, any progress at the Spaceport is good news for its directors and tenants and for the entire concept of passenger space travel and low-cost payload delivery.

We can only hope that news will be soon forthcoming about successful launches of test passenger vehicles from the spaceport.

Until then, stay tuned for word announcing a mile-high test launch.