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
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Sunday, March 9
Two moon missions touched down on the lunar surface. How they unfolded was a stark contrast
CNN — 9:20 am ET (1320 GMT) China’s progress on ‘game-changing’ space technology raises US concerns about closing gap
South China Morning Post — 9:18 am ET (1318 GMT) Fleet Space unveils new global HQ and space tech hyper factory
Asia Pacific Defence Reporter — 9:14 am ET (1314 GMT) How Las Cruces lost the Spaceport America Cup
Albuquerque Journal — 9:13 am ET (1313 GMT) NASA launches plush mascot contest for next moon mission
Huntsville Times — 9:11 am ET (1311 GMT) |
