Ground broken for Spaceport America
Posted: Mon, Jun 22, 2009, 7:30 AM ET (1130 GMT)
A groundbreaking ceremony was held Friday for Spaceport America, a new commercial spaceport in New Mexico. The facility, located in the New Mexico desert north of Las Cruces, is being developed primarily for suborbital space tourism company Virgin Galactic, although a number of other companies have plans to use the site as well. Construction will begin soon on the spaceport's facilities, including a runway and terminal, and is slated to be completed in 18 to 24 months. The groundbreaking ceremony was slated to feature a flyover by WhiteKnightTwo, the carrier aircraft for Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo suborbital spacecraft, but a minor problem caused the aircraft to diverted to Phoenix. The problem, a warning light for a speedbrake actuator, was corrected, and the aircraft flew over Las Cruces on Saturday morning.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held Friday for Spaceport America, a new commercial spaceport in New Mexico. The facility, located in the New Mexico desert north of Las Cruces, is being developed primarily for suborbital space tourism company Virgin Galactic, although a number of other companies have plans to use the site as well. Construction will begin soon on the spaceport's facilities, including a runway and terminal, and is slated to be completed in 18 to 24 months. The groundbreaking ceremony was slated to feature a flyover by WhiteKnightTwo, the carrier aircraft for Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo suborbital spacecraft, but a minor problem caused the aircraft to diverted to Phoenix. The problem, a warning light for a speedbrake actuator, was corrected, and the aircraft flew over Las Cruces on Saturday morning.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
California commission votes against increase in SpaceX Vandenberg launches
Posted: Sun, Aug 17 11:32 AM ET (1532 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Thursday, August 21
SpaceX’s Expensive Starship Explosions Are Starting to Add Up
Bloomberg News — 5:02 am ET (0902 GMT) Abolition of independent UK Space Agency welcomed by industry
New Civil Engineer — 5:00 am ET (0900 GMT) Webb Telescope Images Previously Unknown Moon of Uranus
Aviation Week — 4:59 am ET (0859 GMT) The true cost of colonizing space
Baltimore Sun — 4:58 am ET (0858 GMT) FAA’s informed consent rules leave space tourists flying blind
Space News — 4:58 am ET (0858 GMT) |
