Posted on 09/06/2011 2:26:55 PM PDT by woofie
Phase one of the world's first commercial spaceport, which will be the hub for Virgin's consumer spaceflights, is now 90 per cent complete. The 1,800-acre Spaceport America site, in Las Cruces, New Mexico, is the home base for Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson's most ambitious business venture yet.
It already boasts a runway stretching to nearly two miles long, a futuristic styled terminal hanger, and a dome-shaped Space Operations Centre. The work is now just months away from completion, according to a spaceport spokesman, and is set to be done by the end of the year, well in time for the first expected Virgin Galactic spaceflights in 2013.
Christine Anderson, the newly appointed executive director of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority, told SPACE.com she was 'jazzed' about the progress made so far.
'When you think about what a feat that is, to build all that anywhere, but then to build it in the middle of the high desert in New Mexico — that’s a small city that was built,' she said.
'So hats off to all the contractors and architects and everybody else that spent a lot of time and sweat equity in its development.' But Ms Anderson has already met challenges. No sooner had she started in her new job, the New Mexico legislature slashed the spaceport office budget by more than half.
And there is no firm date yet for Spaceport America to begin operations.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Private spaceflight spaceliner in 2013?
I hope this means Luna City will exist before I die.
New Mexico ping?
I don't know why you changed the title, but that's a real gorch job.
- the New Mexico legislature slashed the spaceport office budget by more than half.
Other than as a tourist attraction, why would the NM leg. fund this at all? There are not a lot of travel destinations at the moment.
Yea
It screwed up with just a little help from me
Bill Richardson .....its been rollin along for a while
Neato.
Improved title bump
Yeah, I understand that people have bought into the “grand idea” of a space port, but doesn’t the basic definition of a “port” mean that there are crafts coming and going from other “ports” (which there are none)?
I’m all for innovation and moving forward when it comes to space travel, but I’m just not seeing the big picture as to how this makes any financial sense at all.
If a private entrprise wants to foot the bill and reap the rewards, fine, but for a state gov. to fund seems a bit short sighted.
No doubt with a bit of prodding from Gov. Susana. This and the NM Rail Runner are two of the biggest boondoggles in state history. Too bad the RR was already built when she assumed office or it might have suffered the same cuts. As it is, the state has $834 million in bond principal and interest to pay off in 2027 for the RR construction. Operational loses are $1.2 million going up to over $5.4 million when federal funding is eliminated next year. These were two Richardson programs that like Obama's current deficit spending will be left to future taxpayers to pay the bill. Unfortunately for NM, the RR costs will continue regardless of whether the RR is shut down now or in the future to curtail the escalating costs.
NM list PING! Click on the flag to go to the Free Republic New Mexico message page.
(The NM list is available on my FR homepage for anyone to use. Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from the list.)
Maybe we can call it Spaceport 0.9
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