US project to offer public flights into space

Construction is starting on a multi-million-dollar spaceport in a US desert that is meant to launch private citizens into space.

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and other dignitaries staged a ceremonial groundbreaking at the remote spaceport site in the state’s Sierra County.

The ceremony featured the liftoff of model rockets. A road grader cut a 40-foot swath into the desert floor, inciting cheers from a crowd of about 300 people.

“Today will be a signal that America needs to regain its leadership in space, both in national space and commercial space,” Mr Richardson said.

“Today is historic because New Mexico leads the nation in commercial space.”

Spaceport America is a taxpayer-funded project where tourists will pay US$200,000 (€142,877) to take suborbital flights into space. The site also performs rocket launches for science experiments and other ventures.

Mr Richardson said the spaceport – about 45 miles north of Las Cruces – will provide a major economic development boost for southern New Mexico, along with providing long-term science and maths careers for New Mexico students and advancements in renewable energy research.

New Mexico is making a US$200m (€142.87m) investment in the project. Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic is investing US$250m (€178.5m) and will be the spaceport’s anchor tenant.

Virgin Galactic officials said that 300 customers have made down payments to get launched into space.

From a 10,000-foot runway, spacecraft will take flight attached to an airplane, then break free and rocket 62 miles into space before returning to the facility.

The flights will last about two hours and include five minutes of weightlessness.

The runway is slated for completion next summer. The terminal and hangar should be ready for tenants in December 2010, when Virgin Galactic hopes to begin taking tourists aloft.