The site is built to accommodate both vertical and horizontal launch aerospace vehicles, as well as an array of non-aerospace events and commercial activities.

[6] Spaceport America was officially declared open on October 18, 2011,[7] the visitor center in Truth or Consequences became fully accessible to the general public on June 24, 2015,[8] and after Virgin Galactic completed the interior buildout, the entire facility was deemed ready for operations in August 2019.

[10] The spaceport's initial concept was proposed by Stanford University engineering lecturer and tech startup advisor Dr. Burton Lee in 1990.

[11] He wrote the initial business and strategic plans, secured US$1.4 million in seed funding via congressional earmarks with the help of Senator Pete Domenici, and worked with the New Mexico State University Physical Science Laboratory (PSL) to develop local support for the spaceport concept.

[12][13] After several years of study, they focused on a 27-square-mile (70 km2) plot of state-owned land, 45 miles (72 km) north of Las Cruces, as a location for the spaceport.

In 2003, the task force petitioned then-new Economic Development Cabinet Secretary Rick Homans who then picked up the torch.

[14] Early operations of the spaceport utilized this temporary infrastructure, with some of it borrowed from the neighboring White Sands Missile Range.

Approximately two-thirds of that were provided by the state and the remainder from "construction bonds backed by a tax approved by voters in Doña Ana and Sierra counties.

[9] With the inauguration of the administration of Governor Susana Martinez in 2011, the state government took a new approach to increase private investment to complete the spaceport project.

The facilities at Spaceport America were never used for Falcon 9 RDV and equipment staged was eventually moved back to Texas.

[35][46] A visitor center was planned in downtown Truth or Consequences (the closest town) to provide shuttle bus services to the Spaceport.

Created by renowned artist Otto Rigan[51] from Muroc, California, The Genesis is a $200,000, 11,000-pound, 40-foot-long by 5-foot-deep steel sculpture[52] that greets visitors at the entrance of Spaceport America.

Boeing, SpinLaunch, HyperSciences, EXOS Aerospace, TMD Defense and Space and White Sands Research and Developers are current tenants.

[56] HAPSMobile is currently testing a prototype high altitude, long endurance UAV and associated cellular-like communication equipment.

The company provides suborbital launch services to customers such as NASA, Department of Defense (DoD), educational institutions, and the private sector.

In 2013, SatWest company led by Brian Barnett sent the first commercial text message to space, using a UP Aerospace rocket launched from Spaceport America funded by NASA's Flight Opportunities Program.

WSRDs have a small launch vehicle currently capable of reaching altitudes as high as 60,000 feet (18,000 m) depending on propulsion.

The company intends to use this vehicle to support third party research requirements including hybrid engine development and high-G testing.

As part of a WSMR program, launches of large, high altitude balloons are conducted from Spaceport America for the purpose of testing the parachute recovery system of the Boeing CST-100 capsule.

Customer cancelled program as a result of aircraft development problems, although ground had been broken on Spaceport America facilities.

An aircraft equipped with the technology under test made numerous landings on  platform as it was towed along the Spaceport America runway.

The NMSGC[63] partnered with a Las Cruces based amateur rocket club to launch K-12 student payloads to approximately 10,000 ft for conducting a variety of simple experiments.

STEM+C launched high altitude balloons that were used to carry remotely controlled gliders back to the Spaceport America runway.

Spaceport America hosted launches of a Princeton University student launch vehicle program with the goal of reaching the Kármán Line with a two-stage rocket In 2019, Infiniti was testing some of its current models at the Spaceport America desert test tracks, such as its Q50 sports sedan and Q60 sports coupe.

[44] In Spring 2021, Canadian based company, C6 Launch Systems conducted a static engine test[64][65] at the Spaceport America Vertical launch area (VLA) Spaceport America promotes educational involvement in grade school and universities through activities, educational materials and training aimed at promoting science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

[66] [67] - In 2020 due to restrictions from COVID-19 a week's worth of science and space-based activities were created to engage with school-age children learning from home.

The ATOMIC Aggies[70] program is mostly composed of mechanical and aerospace engineering students from New Mexico State University (NMSU).

Each year the Atomic Aggies allow a student to build and design their own rocket in order to get the Level 3 certification which shows judges at the Spaceport America Cup that the team is experienced with the larger class motors.

The New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NMIMT) conducts launches of student designed and fabricated suborbital rockets as part of its engineering instructional program.

The Spaceport America Cup[72] is designed in conjunction with the Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC) for student rocketry teams from all over the country and around the world.