Free Republic

Associated Press LAS CRUCES — The New Mexico Spaceport Authority today unveiled the design of Spaceport America, the state's commercial spaceport venture north of Las Cruces. Spaceport officials say the low-lying 100,000-square-foot hangar and terminal facility will have a minimal impact on the environment, resembling a rise in the landscape. Construction is to begin next year and is expected to be finished in late 2009 or early 2010 The cost of the entire spaceport project is estimated at $198 million.

Virgin Galactic Unveils SpaceShipTwo Interior Concept By Tariq MalikStaff Writerposted: 28 September 200610:37 am ET NEW YORK – Future passengers aboard Virgin Galactic spaceliners can look forward to cushioned reclining seats and lots of windows during suborbital flights aboard SpaceShipTwo, a concept interior of which was unveiled by British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson Thursday. [See image here.] “It won’t be much different than this,” Branson told reporters here at Wired Magazine’s NextFest forum. “It’s strange to think that in 12 months we’ll be unveiling the actual plane, and then test flights will commence right after that.” Virgin Galactic’s spaceliners...

UPHAM — An unmanned rocket that took off in the inaugural launch from New Mexico's spaceport crashed in the desert Monday, failing in its mission to reach sub-orbital space. The 20-foot SpaceLoft XL rocket, among the first to be launched from a commercial U.S. spaceport, was carrying various experiments and other payloads for its planned journey 70 miles above Earth. The rocket took of at 2:14 p.m. and was due back about 13 minutes later at White Sands Missile Range, just north of the launch site. Something went wrong shortly after takeoff, sending the rocket prematurely to the ground. Officials...