Texarkana Gazette

Spaceport America ready for launch

Virgin Galactic reveals outpost for space tourism

- By Susan Montoya Bryan

UPHAM, N.M. — Spaceport America is no longer just a shiny shell of hope that space tourism would one day launch from this remote spot in the New Mexico desert.

The once-empty hangar that anchors the taxpayer-financed launch and landing facility has been transforme­d into a custom-tailored headquarte­rs where Virgin Galactic will run its commercial flight operations.

The interior spaces unveiled Thursday aim to connect paying customers with every aspect of the

operation, providing views of the hangar and the space vehicles as well as the banks of monitors inside mission control.

Two levels within the spaceport include mission control, a preparatio­n area for pilots and a lounge for customers and their friends and families, with each element of the fit and finish paying homage to either the desert landscape that surrounds the futuristic outpost or the promise of traveling to the edge of space.

From hotel rooms to aircraft cabins, the Virgin brand touts its designs for their focus on the customer experience. Spaceport is no different.

A social hub includes an interactiv­e digital walkway and a coffee bar made of Italian marble. On the upper deck, shades of white and gray speak to Virgin Galactic’s more lofty mission.

Company officials say the space is meant to create “an unparallel­ed experience” as customers prepare for what Virgin Galactic describes as the journey of a lifetime.

Just how soon customers will file into Virgin Galactic’s newly outfitted digs for the first commercial flights to space has yet to be determined. A small number of test flights are still needed.

“We were the first company to fly a commercial space ship to space with somebody in the back who was not a pilot — first time that somebody like that has been able to get out of their seats and float around the cabin,” Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides said. “So it’s happening. We have a bit more work to do before we get to commercial service.”

Billionair­e Richard Branson, who is behind Virgin Galactic, and former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat, first pitched the plan for the spaceport nearly 15 years ago.

There were constructi­on delays and cost overruns. Virgin Galactic’s spaceship developmen­t took far longer than expected and had a major setback when its first experiment­al craft broke apart during a 2014 test flight, killing the co-pilot.

Critics suggested the project was a boondoggle, but supporters argued that there were bound to be hard and sometimes costly lessons.

Democratic state Sen. George Munoz has enduring concerns about the business model for commercial, low-orbit travel for passengers.

“You can have all the money in the world and come back and say, ‘Was my 30 seconds of fame worth that risk?’” he said.

Munoz says New Mexico’s anticipate­d return on investment in terms of jobs and visitors is still overdue, with more than $200 million in public funds spent on Spaceport America in cooperatio­n with Virgin Galactic as the anchor tenant.

At the facility Thursday, the carrier plane for Virgin’s rocket-powered passenger ship made a few passes and touch-and-goes over a runway.

Behind the spaceport’s signature wall of curved glass, mission control sits on the second floor with an unobstruct­ed view of the runway and beyond.

There’s also space behind two massive sliding doors to accommodat­e two of Virgin Galactic’s carrier planes and a fleet of six-passenger rocket ships.

Virgin Galactic posted on social media earlier this week that its main operating base was now at the spaceport. And Branson said the wing of Virgin’s next rocket ship has been completed.

Chief Pilot Dave Mackay said the crew in the coming days will fly simulated launch missions to ensure in-flight communicat­ions and airspace coordinati­on work as planned. The pilots also will be familiariz­ing themselves with New Mexico’s airspace and landmarks.

“New Mexico is on track to become one of the very few places on this beautiful planet which regularly launches humans to space,” Mackay said.

Whitesides said that once the test flights are complete, commercial operations can begin. He envisions a fundamenta­l shift in humanity’s relationsh­ip with space, noting that fewer than 600 people ever have ventured beyond the Earth’s atmosphere.

 ?? AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan ?? ■ Virgin Galactic ground crew guide the company's carrier plane into the hangar Thursday at Spaceport America following a test flight over the desert near Upham, New Mexico.
AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan ■ Virgin Galactic ground crew guide the company's carrier plane into the hangar Thursday at Spaceport America following a test flight over the desert near Upham, New Mexico.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States