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Secret ‘Project Mars’ roils Torrance County residents

By Cormac Dodd cdodd@sfnewmexican.com, Aug 1, 2026, https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/secret-project-mars-roils-torrance-county-residents/article_6e15c500-ce01-4a68-a84e-b51d50769a85.html

MORIARTY — Ernest Ortiz learned in late June from a top Torrance County official the state trust land where he runs cattle is eyed for a massive development known as “Project Mars.”

The project, which would oust him from land he has leased for nearly a decade, remains mostly a mystery a month later.

While rumors circulating in the community have raised fears of a possible data center — with residents pointing to the contentious Project Jupiter in Southern New Mexico’s Doña Ana County — Torrance County commissioners have said the proposal would create a different kind of development: a manufacturing center for a U.S. Department of Defense contractor.

Takeaways

Torrance County residents have raised concerns about the largely secret “Project Mars” proposal, voicing fears of a new data center that would require large amounts of water in the parched Estancia Basin.

County Commission Chair Ryan Schwebach said officials were told a Department of Defense contractor is considering a manufacturing campus on state-owned property near the Moriarty Municipal Airport, a project that would bring 300 “high-paying” jobs and an economic boost.

The county knows little else about Project Mars, he said, though he added the development would be constructed on 2,200 to 2,500 acres and wouldn’t be a major water burden, like a data center might.

County commissioners have pointed to “nondisclosure agreements” they say the contractor urged them to sign. State lawmakers who represent the area — Sen. Ant Thornton and Rep. Stefani Lord, both Sandia Park Republicans — also said they had signed NDAs on the project.

Meanwhile, Project Mars faces a major hurdle: The New Mexico State Land Office said it won’t consider leasing state trust land for the development.

August 7, 2026 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | space travel