New company to start test flights from spaceport

SPACEPORT AMERICA - Officials with a company operating at Spaceport America said Wednesday they'll start test flights next week on a system to eventually take tiny payloads, including satellites, to suborbital space.

The company, Pipeline2Space, or P2S, discussed its plans during the second day of the Spaceport America Cup, a rocket competition that's drawn roughly 1,000 college students to the southeastern Sierra County-based spaceport this week. An official with Virgin Galactic, considered the facility's anchor tenant, also gave update about that company's activities Wednesday.

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P2S plans to build an underground tube that will be used to fire a small capsules into the atmosphere and eventually suborbital space, said Mark Russell, CEO and co-founder of the company. The advantage is that the capsule at ground level already is traveling fast, while most other types of launches start with no speed. The idea is to reduce the cost and the accessibility of launching small payloads, he said.

"Our vision for spaceflight is hundreds or thousands of take-offs per day," he said. "We're taking our first steps to suborbital here at Spaceport America."

The company's test flights begin next week. It doesn't have its underground infrastructure yet, so the launches will start above-ground, using other equipment.

P2S is selling payload space during its testing phase at $100 per capsule, Russell said. The company collects data during the flight phase, which is the main reason for the flights, but also will try to recover the capsule when it returns to the ground. Customers order the capsules online and mail them back.

"You don't actually have to be here," he said.

The test flights will be in the range of 5,000 to 10,000-feet high, according to the company.

Russell said the testing will also involve horizontal flights, though likely not for customers.

Spaceport America CEO Dan Hicks said it's "exciting to have a wonderful new company" at the facility that could help change the nature of spaceflight.

Virgin Galactic update

Jonathan Firth, Virgin Galactic executive vice president of spaceport and program development, said Wednesday that the company is continuing testing for its newest spaceship in Mojave, California. Virgin Galactic has 22 staff in Las Cruces and recently moved into expanded office space there to get ready for more employees.

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Firth said the company is in its fifth year of a 20-year-lease of facilities at Spaceport America, where it plans to carry tourists to suborbital space. So far, Virgin Galactic has paid $7 million in rent to the New Mexico Spaceport Authority. Also, it's spent another $9 million hiring local contractors for various services, he said.

In addition to carrying passengers, Virgin Galactic is also planning to carry small payloads, such as for research, to suborbital space.

"This is a market that's really growing," Firth said. "We don't know if it's going to compare to personal spaceflight yet."

Virgin Galactic had a major setback in October 2014 when its first spaceship broke apart during a test flight, killing one pilot and injured another.

Since then, a second spaceship has been built and is being tested. Firth said that likely will continue through 2018. There are certain milestones it must meet in order to carry passengers, he said. Because of that, the company isn't setting a start date for commercial flights.

A third and fourth spaceship are currently being built, Firth said.

Virgin Galactic has a separate company dedicated to developing a flight system to reach orbital space, a distance at which objects circle the Earth instead of falling back down. He said orbital launches will take place where the customers "need us to go."

"We are going to the customers," he said.

Spaceport America Cup

Rocket launches begin Thursday as part of the Spaceport America Cup. The competition started 12 years ago and moved to New Mexico for the first time this year.

A total of 91 teams built rockets and will compete in different categories, including for kit-built and self-designed models, Hicks said. There will be one overall winner, who'll get a trophy prize, as well as winners of different categories.

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Students from around the globe prepped their rockets Wednesday at Spaceport America's vertical launch space, getting ready for events throughout the remainder of the week.

The scheduled launch days, Thursday through Saturday at Spaceport America, are open to the public. This event is recommended for children ages 6 and older due to the outdoor conditions and spectators are urged to bring lawn chairs, sunscreen, water and a hat. No spectator coolers, alcohol, drugs, weapons or non-service animals are allowed. Food and beverage will be available for sale. Tickets, $10 for a single day or $20 for three days, are available online at at eventzilla.net or the Spaceport America Cup website.

Diana Alba Soular may be reached at 575-541-5443, dalba@lcsun-news.com or @AlbaSoular on Twitter.