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Virgin Galactic to Build Space Port in New Mexico
aapold writes "Virgin Galactic today announced plans to build a $225 million space port in southern New Mexico. Richard Branson will meet with governor Bill Richardson Wednesday to unveil the plans. Virgin Galactic is the company leveraging Spaceship One which, as reported by Slashdot, claimed the Ansari X prize for commercial space flight."
This is really exciting times. A private spaceport is emerging, and the "real" exploration of space can begin. ;D
I cant wait until my first moon-vacation
The system had the verbosity of HTML combined with all the readability of compiled assembly viewed as bitmap images
Remember, the CEOs of tech companies failed to constrain costs in the late 1990s, and we know what happened to them. Be very careful in spending. Consider whether this port is absolutly necesssary.
Since when has this country used intellectual elite as a pejorative term?
Low population density significantly reduces the cost of the space flight program? I guess they're assuming there will be some bourgeois shrapnel flying around.
I wonder what the road sign looks like that warns against burning appendages falling from the sky.
Is it only me, or does anyone else think a space port is better built...in space?
Yes,
It is only you.
At present the only viable way to get into space is using rockets. Therefor we're going to need somewhere for the rockets to take off and land.
My pics.
Compared to NASA.
They spent $800 million on a new launch center... IN 1962
Think of all the money they'll save hiring undocumented workers.
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
I tried putting one in my town on SimCity, and it did nothing but cause problems.
But putting people in space is expensive, dangerous, and also futile, as it takes far too long to actually go anywhere at present. NASA has pushed back the boundaries constantly with the many probes it has sent out since the 60s, which are a much more cost-effective way to explore the Universe.
You're an immobile computer, remember?
For the Nth time: in response to all the inevitable "far cheaper than NASA" posts; this is not an orbital launch - it just goes up to the edge of space, then straight down again. And getting into orbit isn't just going that "little bit extra"; a spacecraft in low earth orbit has about 15 times the potential + kinetic energy of a spacecraft that is at the same height but is just at the top of a vertical up/down loop.
The commercial opportunities must far outweigh those potential problems.
No kidding. Branson's investement is pretty much a no brainer. Estimates of price per ticket are at around $200,000 dollars a seat, times seven passengers is $1.4 million dollars in cash per flight.
Branson's in the airline business already. I'm not sure about the specifics of it, but I seriously doubt that there are any regular commercial flights out there that pull in $1.4 million dollars per trip. Even those that come close would be 747 type aircraft that probably cost as much to run as SpaceShipTwo will anyway. Can we get some figures here?
Now I would have said that Branson's best bet was to set up shop in some middle of nowhere location, to dodge regulations. But the fact that he's setting up shop inside the US shows that he's serious about doing things professionally. Nonetheless I expect customers will be expected to sign off in the event of an accident.
As to potential customers. Does anyone seriously suggest that Branson won't be able to find people willing to spend $200,000 on a trip into orbit. There are thousands of people who spend ten times that on a boat. I think he'll manage to fill a plane once a week at least.
Step 1: Wait for private group to develop initial technology.
Step 2: Buy group and its technology.
Step 3: Scale up development
Step 4: Charge suckers $200,000 per flight AND satisfy them
Step 3: PROFIT!!
May the Maths Be with you!
noise pollution : No one is going to notice.. well, no HUMAN is going to notice. Between TorC (as everyone calls is) and Las Cruces.. there is a whole lot of NOTHING. Just miles and miles and miles of desert. Well, there are a couple of very small communities if you stay next to the interstate.
traffic problems : Non issue there is hardly any traffic now.. the road would be a little busier because peopel would have to live in TorC or Las Cruces that is a plus for both cities.
money that the populace argues would be better spent elsewhere : HAH! I take it you have never seen the area... Go 4 minutes outside the city limits of Las Cruces and you are IN the third world country within the USA. This will pump millions of MUCH NEEDED money into the area.
They have been waiting 10+ years for this. It is nice to see it finally happening. One section of Las Cruces even split off a few years back (~ '96-'97).. became incorperated and called temselves "spaceport City" because they were dead sure that a spaceport would be built by '99. By late '98 and early '99 they were out of money (they had to make a lot of improvements to fit the terms of becoming a city) and the residents dumped the idea and voted to become a 'burb of Las Cruces again and forget the whole incorperation thing.
Whatever happened to the verb 'to use'? As in 'Virgin Galactic is the company using Spaceship One'.
Anyone who uses the word 'leverage' in any context where the concept of newton metres is absent, or as a verb in any context at all, deserves to be slapped about the face with a kipper until they're sorry.
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
I see from the The Register that Philippe Starck is going to design the new base. I wonder if they picked him solely due to his War of the Worlds lookalike lemon squeezer?
The spaceport, to be located some 25 miles south of the town of Truth or Consequences, will be constructed 90 percent underground, with just the runway and supporting structures above ground.
Some people might think that they are going to all of the trouble and expense of digging out tunnels and pits to construct living quarters, maintenance, etc. is for energy efficiency or something.
The real reason is more unsavory.
If you are announcing your intention to build a conventional (above ground) 60,000 square foot multi-building compound, it will be obvious to everyone if you only build the first 5000 square foot building, and leave the rest for when you actually turn a profit. If it's "90 percent underground", then you can just dig out for that first little structure, put a few 5' side tunnels on and install locked doors in front of the dirt. Who can tell the difference? If you slap labels like "Authorized Personnel Only" or "Hazardous Area - Do Not Enter", then you don't have to open the doors for the reporters who come to tour the "spaceport".
What this means is that they can put up a few sheds and bunkers above ground, build one showcase underground structure to show the reporters and passengers (who come in one or two at a time). Have a few bulldozers and dumptrucks drive around for awhile "building" the rest, then call it a spaceport. That might give them enough time to do a few flights to get the money coming in, then they can actually build the rest of it (probably above ground, with a cover story about how the original underground plans were too expensive). If the project tanks, they walk away without having sunk a lot of money in the thing.
If you can't see it, it isn't there.
The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them. - Mark Twain
Igor Presnyakov stole my hat
Lots of job opportunities for the local population. Someone has to work there to keep the place running. Specialists would move to the area to work there as well meaning new housing developments etc so more growth in construction, retail stores in the area etc. Then if it really takes off your state/area could become the space capital of the world which would could easily be worth billions (trillions?). If you have the real estate to spare I would think it would be worth the investment.
That's correct, Virgin Trains are very good as trains go. I have the choice between catching either Centro Trains or Virgin Trains to Derby everyday and Virgin is clearly a better service.
Centro: litter everywhere, dirty, run down looking, rude/bored and occasionally abusive ticket collectors, no information at all on delays, connections, no shop, no power points, toilets usually filthy
Virgin: generally clean - they have a cleaner on every train, toilets OK, on board shop, staff generally polite, friendly and cheerfull looking, good information about delays, transfers, connections etc etc
Richard Branson said he would introduce High Speed trains and no one really believed him but now they are in service and he has pretty much delivered what he promised he would.
He's dead on. I grew up in NM and went to school in Cruces. The state loves the strange (go to Sante Fe some day) and the dangerous (Los Alamos, Sandia, White Sands). A space port? It's in the blood. The first liquid fueled rocket by Goddard was launched in Roswell, V2's were tested at White Sands, and in general, people love to launch and blow stuff up. You've got a thousand PhD types blowing the crap out of anything they can get their hands on. If they'd put it on cable, it'd be the top red-neck channel. A friend even got college credit in explosives while working at Sandia. The biggest disappointment for locals will be that the spaceships won't blow up. "Another dud!"
As for 3rd world, a couple of interesting facts (which might be outdated). NM has the highest school dropout rate and the highest PhD per capita. AND the bordor patrol has a station NORTH of Las Cruces. Putting it south of there would interfer with international commuters.
The world is made by those who show up for the job.
Agreed. There is practically nothing between TorC and Cruces. Heck, there is practically nothing between Socorro and TorC for that matter. If they had to ditch the craft they could try putting it in one of the lakes instead of the desert. For that matter, there's practically nothing to the east until you get past White Sands to Alamogordo and basically nothing at all in New Mexico to the west and still not much until you cross into Arizona and eventually get to Phoenix. And traffic on I-25? You've gotta be kidding me. You can drive for a long time between Cruces and Albuquerque and have whole sections where the only car you can see on the road is the one you're in. The biggest bottleneck would be that Border Patrol checkpoint north of Cruces and maybe they couldn't easily expand the highway through that S-curve south of TorC and crossing that canyon north of TorC (Nogal?). What's kinda funny is that there have been signs on I-25 for years now at the approximate spot. "Future Site of the New Mexico Spaceport." I just figured it was some local pipe-dream. Still, I'll believe it when I see it. New Mexico has a history of losing companies that started there.