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A spacecraft taking off from a private West Texas spaceport being bankrolled and developed by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos would take off vertically, but unlike NASA's space shuttle would also land vertically, according to an environmental study that offers a glimpse into the secretive plans. The craft would hit an altitude of about 325,000 feet — or almost 62 miles — before descending and restarting its engine for a "precision vertical powered landing on the landing pad" in sparsely populated Culberson County, about 125 miles east of El Paso. Those were among the plans detailed in a 229-page draft of...

SANTA FE— Our fleet is not as big as his, but that didn't stop New Mexico from using its new jet to fly billionaire businessman Sir Richard Branson here last week for his space tourism pitch. Branson, known for brash antics such as inscribing aircraft with a "Mine is bigger than yours" slogan, owns several of his own airlines, including Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Express and Virgin Blue. But a New Mexico economic development spokeswoman, Katie Roberts, said there will be no taxpayer cost for flying Branson here on the state's $5.5 million Cessna Citation Bravo. Branson came to New Mexico...

LONDON - Virgin Galactic, the British company created by entrepreneur Richard Branson to send tourists into space, and New Mexico announced an agreement Tuesday for the state to build a $225 million spaceport. Virgin Galactic also revealed that up to 38,000 people from 126 countries have paid a deposit for a seat on one of its manned commercial flights, including a core group of 100 "founders" who have paid the initial $200,000 cost of a flight upfront. Virgin Galactic is planning to begin flights in late 2008 or early 2009.New Mexico Economic Development Secretary Rick Homans said construction of the...

Sporting little more than a small concrete launch pad and a cluster of portable buildings, New Mexico's spaceport is a far cry from NASA's Kennedy Space Center— a 144,000-acre city of buildings, launch pads and runways with its own ZIP code. But spaceport backers are thinking big ... really big. State officials today, while attending a major European aerospace show, plan to announce a sweeping new name that seeks to capitalize on New Mexico's status as home to the country's first hub for commercial space flight and tourism. Introducing: Spaceport America. "This is an international project, it puts New Mexico...

MOJAVE - In four years, Mojave Airport has gone from an under-utilized airport and civilian flight test facility to a spaceport with a worldwide reputation as a "Silicon Valley" for the emerging commercial space industry. New companies are arriving and established tenants are seeing their contracts and payrolls grow. Companies such as Scaled Composites - which won international acclaim for SpaceShipOne, the first privately funded, manned space program - and XCOR Aerospace are among the cutting-edge aerospace firms outgrowing their existing facilities as they add employees and projects. All the airport's available facilities are occupied, and desires have been expressed...

State Spaceports Grow in Number By Leonard David Senior Space Writer posted: 16 June 2006 08:39 am ET Within the United States, commercial spaceport development has become a growth industry. Work is underway in New Mexico, California, and now in Oklahoma, to build the necessary infrastructure to support private space travel – and stimulate other commercial space enterprise too. A newcomer to the spaceport club is the Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority (OSIDA). It was issued a Launch Site Operator License this month—becoming the second inland U.S. spaceport on the books. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation...

California lawmakers took steps this week to provide an outlay of funds for the inland Mojave Spaceport, an action also designed to keep the state aggressive in public space travel and space enterprise. The California Legislature has moved a bill to invest $11 million in the Mojave Spaceport. Noting competition from other states and nations, the Senate Committee on Transportation voted on a bipartisan 8-1 vote in favor of Senate Bill 1671 by State Senator Roy Ashburn that will ensure a competitive advantage for the first, and only, inland spaceport in the United States. The measure would establish a loan...

Work at the New Mexico spaceport has reached a milestone as facilities are ready to support the first rocket flight from the site—now targeted for July. Meanwhile, state planners have issued a request for proposals to design and engineer the scaled up Southwest Regional Spaceport, the needed hangers, control and support buildings, roads, utilities, launch pads, fuel storage facilities, and other infrastructure requirements. Location of the New Mexico spaceport—some 45 miles north of Las Cruces and 30 miles east of Truth or Consequences—is a remote area near Upham that is favored due to low population density, uncongested airspace, and high...

April 3, 2006 -- Among the cactus and clouds off of Interstate 25, you'll find concrete and the makings of a new era in Space. The dirt road at the New Mexico Spaceport now leads to the inaugural launchpad. And its use is no longer far off on the horizon. "Our first commercial space launch will happen this year from this launch pad that we're standing on," said Lonnie Sumpter, with the New Mexico Office for Space Commercialization. The more immediate future will see the science projects called "Jettison." "We think this will have even more impact than a NASA...

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico – New Mexico lawmakers agreed today to proceed on a three-year commitment of funds to build a regional spaceport, designed to support commercial rocket launchings, including passenger-carrying suborbital vehicles. "Our view of this is all systems go for the spaceport," said New Mexico Economic Development Secretary Rick Homans, also Chairman of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority in nearby Santa Fe. "This sends out a message loud and clear that New Mexico is setting out on this bold plan," Homans told reporters in a telephone briefing. "This is real and we're moving forward on this."

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - Two studies released this week say New Mexico is poised to become the hub of the commercial space industry, but state officials must still resolve many issues before that dream becomes reality. The studies, commissioned by the state Economic Development Department, were conducted by New Mexico State University's Arrowhead Center and the Futron Corp. The studies agree that a planned spaceport in southern New Mexico has the potential to create thousands of jobs and bring hundreds of millions of dollars into the state. But they both caution that there are many unanswered questions. New Mexico Economic...

The New Mexico base selected for Virgin Galactic’s space tourism venture will have a 90m (295ft)-wide, 3,660m (12,000ft)-long runway to accommodate vehicles larger than the SpaceShipTwo (SS2) under development for the planned suborbital service.

French designer Phillipe Starck has drawn up plans for the world's first spaceport - the $225m Virgin Galactic facility coming soon to a patch of New Mexico wasteland. According to the Guardian, Virgin's Richard Branson has inked a deal with the New Mexico authorities to construct the spaceport from which Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne will blast punters to 70 miles above the Earth for six minutes of weighlessness during a three-and-a-half hour flight.

New Mexico's plan to build a $225 million spaceport calls for the state Legislature to contribute $100 million in new money over the next three years — the "cornerstone" of an effort that could open up outer space to thousands of paying customers over the next decade, Gov. Bill Richardson said Wednesday. The balance would come from state funding already approved, as well as federal and local funds, said Rick Homans, New Mexico's economic development secretary. New Mexico's political leaders said the investment would bring a return in the form of thousands of new jobs as well as heightened prestige.

MOJAVE - Long home to feats of aviation achievement, Mojave and its spaceport are poised on the launching pad of a new industry. "There is the possibility there are going to be significant changes in this area brought on by a new industry. That industry is personal spaceflight," said Burt Rutan, seen as a pioneer of the budding industry since last year's success of his privately funded, manned space program, SpaceShipOne. Rutan addressed the crowd Thursday at the Kern County Board of Trade's mixer at the Mojave Airport. The event was an opportunity to spotlight the growing development of east...

SANTA FE -- The state will break ground later this year on construction of a spaceport in southern New Mexico that will serve as the site of a private commercial rocket launch next spring. Gov. Bill Richardson and Economic Development Secretary Rick Homans said Wednesday that a Connecticut-based company will use the New Mexico spaceport for a series of commercial suborbital space flights. The first launch is scheduled for March 27.

HARTFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 6, 2005--New Mexico's Governor, Bill Richardson, will announce tomorrow in Santa Fe the inaugural launch in a series of space launches to occur at the State's new Southwest Regional Spaceport. On March 27, 2006, UP Aerospace, Inc. (www.upaerospace.com) -- heralding "Unlimited Possibilities" for business and education -- will launch its SpaceLoft rocket on a sub-orbital flight from the New Mexico Spaceport. The flight will carry seven experimental and commercial payloads for a variety of scholastic and business entities. After traveling into space, the rocket and its payloads will land in the downrange area of the Spaceport. The...

New Mexico's new Spaceport Authority met for the first time last Wednesday to start making plans for a new commercial spaceport in the state. "Now we move into implementation," Spaceport Authority Chairman Rick Homans told Space.com after the meeting. A site of 27 square miles, about 45 miles north of Las Cruces, has already been designated as the Southwest Regional Spaceport. The Authority will begin work on an environmental impact assessment within the next month, Homans said, and hopes to have an FAA license to operate as a spaceport by the end of next year. Homans said the Spaceport Authority...

VAN HORN, Texas — Even skeptical locals, who’ve become wary over the years of city slickers with big ideas for their town, perked up when Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos made his pitch — a spaceport for commercial travel into the beyond. Bezos flew into this West Texas town a few weeks ago to tell key leaders how he planned to use his newly acquired 165,000 acres of desolate ranch land. He also gave his only interview so far on the spaceport to the Van Horn Advocate, the weekly newspaper Larry Simpson runs from the back of his Radio Shack store....

One of the constants of American business is the effort made by state and local governments to lure new businesses to their regions. From automobile factories to biotech research firms to sports franchises, local governments often pull out all the stops to encourage businesses to move to their areas. Those enticements can range from a variety of tax breaks to promises of low costs of doing business to descriptions of a well-educated, available workforce.