Virgin unveils first commercial spaceport
Virgin Galactic has said the world’s first specifically designed commercial spaceport is “operationally functional”.
The company, owned by billionaire businessman Sir Richard Branson, announced the transfer of all its spaceflight operations to Spaceport America in New Mexico yesterday.
Virgin Galactic had been carrying out test flights from Mojave, California - including the first successful launch of its tourism rocket plane into space in December last year.
More than 600 people have already paid $80 million (£64.2m) of deposits to the company to secure their tickets on the first spaceflights.
The business has now revealed the interior of its “Gateway to Space” building at the spaceport - including two floors primarily focused on spaceflight operations, and a further floor of communal spaces specifically designed for future customers.
As a result of the completion of the interior work, the company said the spaceport facility can now “support Virgin Galactic’s flight requirements”.
The company has said the communal area is specifically designed for astronauts to share their experience with pilots, rocket engineers and operatives from Mission Control.
Last month, Virgin Galactic announced its merger with New York-listed Social Capital Hedosophia to set itself up to become the first and only publicly traded commercial human spaceflight company.
Commenting on the unveiling of the new spaceport, the company said: “Virgin Galactic has striven to remain faithful to that tradition by choosing an elegant, experiencefocused concept for the space launch system itself.
“Similarly, the company’s choice to operate from Spaceport America in New Mexico was due in no small part to the state’s decision to commission landmark architecture for the world’s first purpose-built commercial spaceport.”
A development consortium is proposing to build a commercial spaceport on North Uist in the Westeern Isles, allowing the vertical launch of rockets to put satellites in space.
Western Isles Council is working with Ministry of Defence contractor Qinetiq and others on the project, which is planned for Scolpaig on the island’s north-west coast.