Work on First Spaceport to Start in April

January 8, 2009 — It’s going to be the first of its kind, and it came one step closer to reality last week. That’s when Virgin Galactic signed a 20-year lease with the state of New Mexico, becoming an anchor tenant in what will become the United State’s first purpose-built commercial spaceport. Virgin Galactic plans to break ground on the company’s world headquarters by April, with completion slated for 2010. The lease sets out fees Virgin Galactic will pay to use the terminal and launch passengers into suborbital space from Spaceport America, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported. Under the terms, Virgin Galactic will pay $1 million per year for the first five years for use of the terminal facilities, and, for the next 15 years, will pay a fee based on an amortization of the remaining total cost of its facilities, the Sun-News reported. “The signing of this agreement is a momentous day for our state and has cemented New Mexico as the home of commercial space travel,” Governor Bill Richardson said in statement. “I want to thank Virgin Galactic for partnering with us to create a whole new industry that is going to transform the economy of Southern New Mexico—creating thousands of jobs, generating money for education, boosting tourism and attracting other companies and economic opportunities to the area.” The signing of the lease agreement comes just days after the Federal Aviation Administration issued a launch license to the New Mexico Spaceport Authority. The lease agreement with an anchor tenant was the final requirement set by the New Mexico Legislature to release the next level of funding for Spaceport America and it has cleared the way for construction to begin early next year. The signing of the lease agreement also coincides with the beginning of the test-flying program for Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo launch vehicle. WhiteKnightTwo will serve as the mother ship for SpaceShipTwo, the vehicle that will carry commercial astronauts into sub-orbital space from Spaceport America for a $200,000 price tag.

WhiteKnightTwo began test flights on Dec. 21, 2008. Photo credit: Virgin Galactic Sir Richard Branson and Burt Rutan stand by Virgin Galactic mothership ‘Eve’ as she is rolled out in Mojave in July 2008. Photo credit: Virgin Galactic A cut-away view of the Spaceport America facility. Credit: Spaceport Authority

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