Latest Spaceport Stories
LOS ANGELES -- The promise of blasting thrill-seeking tourists into space is fueling an unprecedented rush to build snazzy commercial spaceports.The Federal Aviation Administration is reviewing proposals from New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas to be gateways for private space travel. Depending on how environmental reviews and other requirements go, approval could come as early as this year and the sites could begin preparing to ferry space tourists soon afterward.The current spaceport boom...
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson signed legislation into law on Wednesday that will allow his state to begin investing $110 million in a facility to launch tourists into space. "These bills will help create tremendous economic impact for New Mexico, and particularly Southern New Mexico," Richardson said in a statement on the planned spaceport in Upham near the White Sands Missile Range. "This is a unique opportunity for New Mexico to be on the ground floor of...
CAYENNE (Reuters) - The launch of a heavy-lift Ariane-5 rocket carrying two satellites was postponed in French Guiana on Friday for the second time this week due to a new technical fault, space officials said.Officials of the Arianespace rocket launch company said a new launch date would be announced in several hours. They said one of the launch customers had requested further checks of a telemetry circuit.A first launch date on Tuesday was scrubbed when a problem linking the rocket to the...
By Jim Christie SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said on Thursday a plan to spend $100 million in state money to build a facility to launch tourists into space will take flight, despite objections in the state legislature. Richardson, a Democrat considered a potential presidential contender, wants to help British entrepreneur Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic build a one-of-its-kind commercial spaceport near a small town neighboring the White Sands Missile...
UPHAM, N.M. -- When adventurer Richard Branson looks out across the vast southern New Mexico desert, he sees the launch pad of a space tourism industry. He envisions a state-built spaceport with roads, launchpads and giant runways, and customers pouring in for the chance to experience six minutes of weightlessness and a view of Earth they had only before seen in photos. "We're going where no one has gone before. There's no model to follow, nothing to copy," the British entrepreneur...
LOS ANGELES -- British entrepreneur Richard Branson has chosen New Mexico for the launch pad of his planned space tourism flights, state officials said on Thursday.Details of the agreement are scheduled to be unveiled in New Mexico on December 14 when Branson will fly in for a news conference, Economic Development Secretary Rick Homans said."We are very excited to announce our partnership with Virgin Galactic next week. It has been a dream in New Mexico for 15 years to build a spaceport...
BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (AP) - NASA's top official said Friday that the future of U.S. participation in Russian space flights was in doubt. Michael Griffin told reporters near the Baikonur cosmodrome that "an acceptable financial agreement" could be reached to resolve Russian demands that the U.S. pay for its participation in future Russian flights. But Griffin said a U.S. law - the Iran Nonproliferation Act of 2000 penalizing countries that sell unconventional weapons and missile...
