Runway at world’s first commercial spaceport ready
October 23rd, 2010 - 12:32 pm ICT by IANSLondon, Oct 23 (IANS) A runway at the world’s first commercial spaceport in New Mexico is complete and space tourists are expected to take flight in 18 months, with British industrialist Richard Branson likely to be among them, says a media report.
The Spaceport America in New Mexico desert is the world’s first facility designed to launch commercial spacecraft. Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson and prospective astronauts Friday celebrated the completion of the two-mile long runway, express.co.uk reported.
Branson called it an emotional and historic day and said he expects flights for space tourists to begin in nine to 18 months - and he will be among the first passengers.
Stretching across a flat dusty plain 45 miles north of Las Cruces, the runway is designed to support almost every aircraft in the world.
Virgin Galactic is the anchor tenant of the taxpayer-funded spaceport and plans to use the facility to take tourists on what will first be short hops into space.
Virgin Galactic’s bullet-shaped spacecraft - SpaceShipTwo - also made an appearance, carried high over the barren landscape by its special jet-powered mothership, White Knight Two. Both vehicles made several passes over the spaceport as they returned to Earth.
Tickets for suborbital space rides aboard SpaceShipTwo cost $200,000. The two-and-a-half hour flights will include about five minutes of weightlessness. Some 380 customers have already made deposits totalling more than $50 million, Virgin Galactic officials said.
Until now, space travel has been limited to astronauts and a handful of wealthy people who have shelled out millions to ride Russian rockets to the International Space Station.
- Runway opens at world's first spaceport in US - Oct 23, 2010
- Virgin Galactic 'hiring world's first pilot-astronauts for private spacecrafts' - Apr 13, 2011
- Virgin Galactic Makes First Test Space Flight - Oct 12, 2010
- Virgin space tourists could be launched by 2015 - Jun 14, 2010
- Virgin Tests its Spacecraft for the First Time - Mar 24, 2010
- Katy Perry Buys Russell Brand Ticket to Outer Space - Aug 02, 2010
- Kutcher heads to space - Mar 21, 2012
- Space tourism will worsen climate change - Oct 26, 2010
- Virgin Galactic's spaceship makes first solo test flight - Oct 11, 2010
- British firm hopes to loft tourists into space - Sep 27, 2010
- Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo takes maiden flight - Mar 23, 2010
- Virgin Galactic space ship makes its first solo test flight - Oct 12, 2010
- Prince Harry wants to go to space - Aug 07, 2011
- Space tourism plane makes maiden test flight - Dec 22, 2008
- World's Virgin Commercial Spacecraft Test Flight A Big Success - Mar 24, 2010
Tags: 50 million, anchor tenant, barren landscape, commercial spacecraft, express co, five minutes, half hour, hops, industrialist, international space station, las cruces, mexico desert, prospective astronauts, richard branson, russian rockets, space tourists, space travel, spaceport america, weightlessness, white knight