Spaceport America makes science fiction dreams a reality

The Virgin Galactic Gateway to Space, known also as Spaceport America, was opened this week by Richard Branson. He was joined by New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez, Buzz Aldrin, and 150 Virgin Galactic customers, amongst others.

During the dedication , Branson rappelled down the front of the building, spraying champagne and swigging from the bottle in his normal ebullient style. Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo staged a fly-past over the terminal and hangar facility, which is sited in the remote desert of southern New Mexico.

The Gateway, as Virgin Galactic call it, will house mission control, preparation facilities for travellers, and a friends and family area. Virgin are also planning a public area in the upcoming New Mexico Spaceport Authority’s Visitor Experience. Said the Virgin Galactic press release :

[caption id=“attachment_110795” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The Virgin Galactic Gateway to Space, known also as Spaceport America was opened by Richard Branson. AFP”] [/caption]

“Today is another history-making day for Virgin Galactic,” said Sir Richard Branson. “We are here with a group of incredible people who are helping us lead the way in creating one of the most important new industrial sectors of the 21st century. We’ve never wavered in our commitment to the monumental task of pioneering safe, affordable and clean access to space, or to demonstrate that we mean business at each step along the way.”

Branson and his children, Sam and Holly, who will be the first commercial passengers on SpaceShipTwo, brought the event to a spectacular conclusion by officially naming the world’s first purpose-built spaceline terminal as the “Virgin Galactic Gateway to Space” while rappelling together from the roof of the striking new building.

The facility will be able to “support up to two WhiteKnightTwo and five SpaceShipTwo vehicles”. WhiteKnightTwo is a jet aircraft which carries the SpaceShipTwo spacecraft to launch altitude, suspended underneath its central wing.

Spaceport America cost $209 mn and was financed by the taxpayer in an agreement between Virgin Galactic and New Mexico. Its completion has been delayed because of building code problems, its remote location, and contractor disputes.

The opening comes hot on the heals of Virgin Galactic’s successful deal to supply NASA with up to three charter flights on SpaceShipTwo in a contract worth up to $4.5 mn. The flights will be sub-orbital, with each one allowing “up to 1300 lbs of scientific experiments, which could enable up to 600 experimental payloads per flight”.

This reveals the serious side to Virgin Galactic, which is most often seen as a space tourism company. Whilst it has collected $58 mn in deposits from 455 eager astrotourists, Virgin Galactic views research as “both a future mission segment and a significant business opportunity”.

Final test flights for WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo will continue through 2012. Commercial flights will begin after that, once Virgin Galactic has been licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration. Each tourist flight will last 2.5 hours, with about five minutes of weightlessness and spectacular views of the Earth.

For anyone, like me, who grew up reading science fiction, it is an exciting moment to finally be able to use the word “spaceport” in reference to a real facility. I hope that one day I’ll be able to say the same thing for “moonbase” as well. The entrepreneurial space race is truly on.