Groundbreaking set for NM spaceport
Posted at: 06/17/2009 9:21 AM
| Updated at: 06/17/2009 1:32 PM
By: The Associated Press
UPHAM, N.M. (AP) - Gov. Bill Richardson and others break ground in southern New Mexico Friday for the world’s first commercial spaceport built with the idea of launching private citizens into space for profit.
Some 250 people are lining up to pay $200,000 each to take the trip as early as 2010.
It’s called Spaceport America, a $200 million taxpayer-funded project where the sky is not the limit. From the 10,000-foot runway, spacecraft will take flight attached to an airplane, then break free and rocket 62 miles into space before returning to the facility. The flights will last about two hours and include five minutes of weightlessness.
Spaceport director Steve Landeene said the facility will also tap other business ventures such as medical research and communication projects.
State officials say the project will provide 500 construction jobs over the next four years and spark economic development, education and tourism for generations.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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