Space Travel
31, Jul, 2010

Spaceport America Groundbreaking Ceremony

Written by spacetravel.org   
Friday, 12 June 2009 16:41
A groundbreaking ceremony for New Mexico's Spaceport America will take place on Thursday, June 18, 2009. Spaceport America is the first American spaceport created for use by commercial space vehicles.

The ceremony will begin at 5 PM in Las Cruces, New Mexico and will include speeches by Arizona Governor Bill Richardson, Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima and Stephen Attenborough, the commercial director of Virgin Galactic.

The budget for the spaceport's construction amounted to $198 million, making it New Mexico's largest economic development project.

The following day, Virgin Galactic's spacecraft WhiteKnightTwo, also known as "Eve," will fly over southern New Mexico

Virgin Galactic, the space tourism company owned by Richard Branson, signed a 20-year lease with Spaceport America in January 2009.