Commissioners approve lease with Longshot Space Technology to test hypersonic accelerator at Tonopah Airport, with conditions
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Summary
Nye County approved a lease and resolution permitting Longshot Space Technology to use a parcel at Tonopah Airport for ground-based hypersonic testing, subject to a development agreement, FAA coordination and construction milestones; the company said early tests aim for Mach 5 and pledged work with local fire and airport authorities.
The Nye County Board of Commissioners approved a resolution and lease authorizing Longshot Space Technology to use a portion of Tonopah Airport for a ground-based hypersonic test track, with added conditions to address safety, permitting and a development agreement.
Applicant Joseph Michael Grace (introduced himself using his full name during the meeting) described the company's concept — a long, staged "accelerator" that uses multiple injections of compressed gas to accelerate test vehicles to supersonic and hypersonic speeds. Grace said his Oakland-based team has a prototype that has reached Mach 4.2 and that the company recently received a $2 million Air Force Research Laboratory award and was closing a larger venture round. He asked to lease airport land adjacent to the eastern runway to build a longer test facility.
Commissioners and staff raised several practical issues the lease and future development agreement must address: FAA Part 77 and airport-layout-plan updates, public and airport-user safety, sonic-boom and noise mitigation, on-site fire-response capabilities, and a timeline for construction and testing. Director Wagner and airport/town representatives recommended the lease be coupled with a development agreement that would spell out sequencing, public-notice requirements, construction milestones and environmental/permitting steps. The board agreed and added a condition requiring a development agreement to be completed within a defined period; construction would not be permitted to commence until the development agreement and required permits were in place.
Public commenters included local town officials (Tonopah Town Board) who expressed support and community stakeholders who asked about jobs, aircraft impacts and fire safety. Fire officials asked about brush-management and on-site fire-response capability; Grace said the company would work with local fire chiefs, planned berms and vegetation controls to mitigate noise and fire risk, and said staff would be on site during testing.
The board asked staff to prepare the development agreement language and referenced an FAA coordination process (ALP amendment and Part 77 notification) before construction. With the added condition and a construction-completion target to be incorporated in the development agreement, commissioners approved the lease and resolution by voice vote.
What happens next: Staff will draft and negotiate a development agreement with Longshot, coordinate required FAA actions and include specific construction milestones and community-notice requirements for future board review and approval.
