Virgin Unveils Space Plans for New Mexico
FYI,
"Virgin Unveils Space Plans for New Mexico
- Will begin flights in California, then shift to $225 million
spaceport by 2010"
MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10451149/from/RSS/
: Virgin Galactic on Tuesday began lifting the veil on its vision to
: send tourists on flights from the desert to the black sky of space
: — starting out from California's Mojave Desert as early as 2008,
: then shifting its base of operations to a $225 million spaceport
: near New Mexico's White Sands Missile Range by 2010.
: During a London news conference, Virgin officials said the company
: would lease facilities at New Mexico's Southwest Regional Spaceport
: for a 20-year term, with annual payments of $1 million for the
: first five years. After that time, the payments would be "scaled to
: the success" of the operation, Virgin Galactic spokeswoman Jackie
: McQuillan told MSNBC.com.
: "Without doubt there will be other space tourist businesses using
: the New Mexico spaceport," McQuillan said. Several other space
: companies — including another British-based rocket firm, Starchaser
: Industries — already have announced plans to launch from the future
: spaceport at Upham, N.M., 45 miles (72 kilometers) north of Las
: Cruces.
: Work has not yet begun on the 27-square-mile site, but New Mexico
: officials have laid out the timeline for the obtaining of a federal
: spaceport license during 2006, the start of construction in 2007
: and completion in late 2009 or early 2010.
: New Mexico's financing plan, as well as various designs for the
: spaceport, are to be revealed at a Santa Fe news briefing on
: Wednesday, with New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Virgin Group
: chairman Richard Branson in attendance.
: Virgin says more than 38,000 people from 126 countries already have
: registered their interest in buying a ticket, and up to 100
: "Founders" have committed to paying the full $200,000 fare upfront
: for the first available seats.
: In a company statement, Virgin Galactic President Will Whitehorn
: said several factors made the New Mexico site "an ideal operations
: base": steady climate, wide-open airspace, low population density,
: high altitude and stunning scenery.
: "Our team was highly impressed by the professionalism and the
: competitive pitch the state and its advisers developed," Whitehorn
: said. "We look forward to working together to make the 'Final
: Frontier' a reality for tens of thousands of pioneering space
: tourists."
: The schedule calls for Virgin's commercial flights to begin in late
: 2008 or early 2009 at the Mojave Airport, which has already won its
: federal spaceport license and served as the base for SpaceShipOne's
: flights.
: Mojave Airport manager Stuart Witt told MSNBC.com that he applauded
: Richardson's efforts in "achieving critical mass for the state of
: New Mexico and making this a state agenda." But Witt also said
: Mojave intended to stay in the competition for commercial space
: dollars.
: "Mojave's in this business," he said. "We're not leaving this
: business."
: He pointed out that Mojave was the home base for Scaled Composites
: as well as XCOR Aerospace, the only other company to win a federal
: launch license for manned suborbital spaceflight.
: "We must utilize the next three to five years and a 30- to
: 50-flight test program to demonstrate the compatibility of
: operating airports with suborbital space vehicles, at least the
: ones that are licensed to fly at Mojave," he said.
: Witt said there would be enough room in the space tourism market
: for Mojave as well as New Mexico's site and others as well. Among
: the other locales being contemplated for passenger spaceflights are
: Oklahoma, Florida, Texas and Ontario.
: During Tuesday's news conference, Virgin Galactic highlighted a
: couple of its future customers, including British advertising guru
: Trevor Beattie. The Associated Press quoted Beattie as saying he
: wasn't concerned about the safety of the launch.
: "My only concern is that the longer they leave the launch, the more
: likely we all are to be hit by a bus," Beattie joked.
: Virgin Galactic also unveiled a spaceport concept suggested by
: French designer Philippe Starck, another paid-up passenger-to-be.
: The concept, which called for most of the facilities to be built
: underground, was highlighted by New Mexico Economic Development
: Secretary Rick Homans. However, Virgin's McQuillan said the concept
: was merely one of several possibilities.
: In conjunction with GBH Design Ltd., Starck contributed a new
: "visual identity" for Virgin Galactic as well: a logo incorporating
: the iris and pupil of a human eye, with the corporate Virgin script
: at the center. "When I look at the logo I am reminded of childlike
: awe," Branson said in a written statement. "I believe it represents
: all those who will watch and be a part of the growth of this
: amazing new commercial aviation sector."
: McQuillan said she expected that the New Mexico spaceport would be
: designed to accommodate orbital trips as well as the suborbital
: flights currently planned.
: "Without doubt they are looking at this as a long, long, long-term
: facility that New Mexico will provide," she told MSNBC.com. "Our
: plan at Virgin Galactic is that we will start with suborbital, and
: then move to orbital."
-------------------
"New Mexico lays out its spaceport plan
- State, federal and local funding would support $225 million
facility"
MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10467451/from/RSS/
: New Mexico's plan to build a $225 million spaceport calls for the
: state Legislature to contribute $100 million in new money over the
: next three years — the "cornerstone" of an effort that could open
: up outer space to thousands of paying customers over the next
: decade, Gov. Bill Richardson said Wednesday.
: The balance would come from state funding already approved, as well
: as federal and local funds, said Rick Homans, New Mexico's economic
: development secretary. New Mexico's political leaders said the
: investment would bring a return in the form of thousands of new
: jobs as well as heightened prestige.
: "What we are calling the second space age will open up a wide range
: of commercial opportunities, including point-to-point cargo
: delivery, with personal and business travel," Richardson said,
: during a Santa Fe news briefing that provided New Mexico's
: perspective on the ambitious spaceport plan.
: The "anchor tenant" of the 27-square-mile facility is to be Virgin
: Galactic, which intends to offer suborbital spaceflights starting
: in late 2008 or early 2009.
: Homans said Virgin Galactic would take out a 20-year lease on
: facilities at the spaceport. The company would pay $1 million a
: year for the first five years, then the payment and user fees would
: rise with the aim of paying off the spaceport cost over the
: remaining 15 years, Homans said.
: Virgin Galactic spokeswoman Jackie McQuillan had a slightly
: different view, telling MSNBC.com that payments after the first
: five years would be "scaled to the success" of spaceflight
: operations. Virgin Galactic's president, Will Whitehorn, said
: Wednesday that the detailed terms of the lease still had to be
: negotiated.
: Branson took a marathon flight from Australia to be in New Mexico
: for Wednesday's briefing.
: "Of all the projects that I've worked on in my life, of all the
: businesses I've started, this is by far the most exciting," he
: said. "This business will mark a milestone in world history, and it
: will launch a new space industry — a private space industry, driven
: by innovators and entrepreneurs and new technologies and bold
: thinkers."
: Many of the details surrounding the plan came out on Tuesday during
: a Virgin Galactic briefing in London. However, Wednesday's briefing
: in Santa Fe provided new information about the state's financing
: plan.
: As outlined by Richardson and Homans, the key piece of the puzzle
: is the $100 million in capital outlays yet to be appropriated by
: the state Legislature. During the briefing, House Speaker Ray Lujan
: and Senate President Pro Tem Ben Altamirano voiced their support
: for the spaceport. "We're excited to be part of the project,"
: Altamirano said. "It's like a Christmas present to all of New
: Mexico."
: Homans said the project would take advantage of an additional
: $35 million already set aside by the Legislature for upgrading
: transportation and runways. He said New Mexico's congressional
: delegation would seek federal backing as well, because the project
: would benefit the nation as well as the state of New Mexico.
: The spaceport could someday become the base for commercial flights
: into orbit, with space hotels and private research facilities as
: destinations, he said. "Development of this private industry in New
: Mexico will allow NASA and other international government space
: agencies to focus their efforts on exploring the further reaches of
: space, including manned travel to Mars and beyond," Richardson said.
: Homans said New Mexico's financing plan also depends on revenue
: from a new gross-receipts tax that would have to be enacted by
: local governments in southern New Mexico. The local tax could
: generate $10 million to $12 million a year, he said.
: "That piece still has to be worked out, depending on what kind of
: support comes from southern New Mexico. ... We've got more work to
: do there," Homans said.
: Virgin Galactic's Whitehorn said the current concept for the New
: Mexico spaceport called for building most of the facilities
: underground, to preserve the desert landscape as well as to save
: water and energy. One artistic rendering showed electricity-
: generating solar arrays built in the shape of Virgin Galactic's new
: iris-shaped logo.
: If geological problems ruled out going underground, "this same
: design can be highly efficient above ground as well," Whitehorn
: said.
: Alex Tai, Virgin Galactic's director of operations, emphasized that
: the concepts were still subject to change. "We have no concrete
: ideas, we just know that we want to do something beautiful," he
: told reporters.
: Whitehorn said up to three flights a day would take off from the
: New Mexico facility.
: Virgin says more than 38,000 people from 126 countries already have
: registered their interest in buying a ticket, and up to 100
: "Founders" have committed to paying the full $200,000 fare upfront
: for the first available seats. One of those Founders, actress
: Victoria Principal, said during the Santa Fe briefing that her
: flight would be "a dream come true."
: "We're on the era of a new form of transportation and a way of life
: that we've never known before," she said, "so I'm very proud and
: very thrilled to be a part of this, and I hope to share my space
: journey with you."
: Whitehorn said his company passed over other potential spaceport
: sites — including Mojave Airport — in part because of New Mexico's
: favorable climate, open airspace and low population density. The
: New Mexico site is projected to have weather suitable for launch on
: up to 340 days out of the year, Whitehorn said. In contrast,
: Mojave's winds and the airspace needs of nearby Edwards Air Force
: Base might interfere with Virgin's operations, he said.
: The fact that few people live around the New Mexico spaceport site
: means there will be less risk to the "uninvolved public" — which
: should be reassuring to regulators as well as insurance providers,
: Whitehorn said.
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Mark Reiff <markreiff@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
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