Spaceport America Groundbreaking Ceremony |
| Written by spacetravel.org | |||
| Friday, 19 June 2009 11:02 | |||
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson took part in the ceremony, which was held at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. Richardson said that the spaceport would help to increase economic and educational opportunities for southern New Mexico. The 27 square mile spaceport is expected to be completed by the end of 2010, at a cost of $198 million. New Mexico taxpayers are funding the project. It has therefore caused some controversy. Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson's new commercial space tourism company, has a 20-year lease at Spaceport America. The company has invested $100 million in developing a new space launch system for use at the spaceport. Over 250 potential space tourists have placed deposits on Virgin Galactic flights, which are expected to cost $200,000 each. SpaceShipTwo, the spacecraft Virgin Galactic will use to take passengers into space, is awaiting testing at a Mojave hanger, according to Virgin Galactic CEO Stephen Attenborough New Mexico Spaceport Authority Executive Director Steve Landeene said that Spaceport America would be used for scientific exploration as well as space tourism. Other states that have shown interest in developing commercial spaceports include Alaska, California, Florida, Oklahoma and Virginia.
|