spacetoday.net: Texas airport receives spaceport license

Texas airport receives spaceport license

Posted: Thu, Sep 18, 2014, 8:23 AM ET (1223 GMT)
XCOR Lynx vehicle illustration (Mike Massee/XCOR)

The Midland International Airport in Texas received a spaceport license from the FAA on Wednesday, a major milestone in its efforts to host launches of commercial suborbital vehicles. The airport is the first airport that also hosts scheduled commercial passenger flights to receive a spaceport license. XCOR Aerospace, which is developing the Lynx suborbital vehicle, is planning to move to Midland and fly the Lynx from the airport; receipt of the spaceport license was a key step in that progress. Local officials hope to attract other commercial space firms to the area. With the license in hand, airport officials said Wednesday the airport would now be known as Midland International Air and Space Port.