NEW MEXICO | Spaceport America Development News

[Newcastle Guy]

http://spaceportamerica.com/images/logo.gif

I know, not really 'urban' but important none the less, and deserves to be somewhere where it can be seen by all.

First images released of the first Spaceport America terminal, designed by a team consisting of British architects (Fosters) and American engineers.

Construction is due to begin next year and finish late 2009/early 2010.

Virgin Galactic plan to launch from here as soon as it opens.

Official Site:

Link (http://spaceportamerica.com/home.html)

Virgin Galactic site:

Link (http://www.virgingalactic.com/)

Renders:

http://archrecord.construction.com/news/daily/archives/070904spaceport/1.jpg

http://archrecord.construction.com/news/daily/archives/070904spaceport/2.jpg

http://archrecord.construction.com/news/daily/archives/070904spaceport/3.jpg

http://space.newscientist.com/data/images/ns/cms/dn12596/dn12596-2_500.jpg

Elevation:

http://archrecord.construction.com/news/daily/archives/070904spaceport/4.jpg

There are more renders on the official Spaceport America site, and a number of stories on the net.

[will.exe]

Yea civilian space travel will become the norm in my lifetime I have no doubt. Wow.

[xXFallenXx]

Wow, its amazing what us humans can do.
Crazy. i wish i had the money do this.

[xXFallenXx]

i wonder if there will really be as many people there as they show in the pics.

[philvia]

wtf why new mexico?

[xXFallenXx]

^^ probably because there is nothing out there, so the noise wont bother people. Also because i assume they need a huge runway and there is a lot of space in New Mexico for that kind of thing.

[MDguy]

They have a place where space shuttles land sometimes already. i think thats why

[Athenax]

Looks cute and looks like an alien's hub to me. :lol:

And since it's a "Spaceport", aliens from outer space might come to visit from time to time.

[xXFallenXx]

^^ i think thats one of the reasons they are building it. :lol:

[Athenax]

^^ Right, to encourage aliens from outer space to land on earth. :lol:

[Vrysxy]

That's why they are going to buld it. ^^

[Zicyx]

Wow the building indeed looks ''alien''! There many strange buildings around the world but they always look ''human''. This one looks really alien. Maybe someone should put this on Digg.

[Bond James Bond]

Kewel thread. :cool:

Here's where it's located.

http://spaceportamerica.com/images/spaceportMap.jpg

They shoulda put it closer to Roswell. :D

[XKQWhy]

^^

It's closer to Las Cruces than it looks on the map, I think about 40 miles north-- roughly halfway between T or C and Las Cruces.

Regarding the why New Mexico comment...

NM may be a small state (2M people in the whole state), but it is well-represented by high tech/R&D companies and two National Laboratories (Sandia and Los Alamos). The site is near the White Sands Missile Range where the first atomic bomb was detonated in 1945 and, as stated earlier, the backup Shuttle landing site.

Of course there's nothing around for 40 miles or so, so it's probably a pretty good site...

[Gaeus]

OOH! NICE!

Its pretty far from Roswell but I am pretty sure it will only take less than 30 seconds for aliens to get there. :nuts:

[Athenax]

Its pretty far from Roswell but I am pretty sure it will only take less than 30 seconds for aliens to get there. :nuts:



Some of them are getting curious about this "Spaceport"...

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc216/Athena_Fox/aliens.jpg


...that they held a meeting to discuss it.

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc216/Athena_Fox/aliens2.jpg

[jchernin]

nice thread.

^i hope u didnt take that photo Athenax ;)

[Athenax]

^i hope u didnt take that photo Athenax ;)

It was a closed door meeting and those jealous aliens won't let me in...:|

[goschio]

Nice space port. Isn't Dubai planing one as well?

[Zicyx]

^^ Yeah and Singapore too.

[Vrysxy]

liars

[Gaeus]

This thread needs to be transferred to the Airport section. :)

[DAMN I m good]

its an exiting project were going in to the next step of transport

[Newcastle Guy]

Sweden is also planning a spaceport, and Richard Branson is also looking at flying from the UK as well once VG takes off, so we could be getting one too.

[eonynx]

wow! spaceport! i hope they issue passports soon for those aliens!:D

[xXFallenXx]

i need $200,000 so i can take off from here.
Any donations? :D

[il fenomeno]

wtf why new mexico?
also because it's military restricted area, so commercial airliners bypass the area. its quite high above sea level too, so less fuel is needed.

[jpaulo_001]

Beautiful

[romanamerican]

they will probably build spaceports all over the world, but we will ever remember that the first spaceport was buildid in america, as usual..:)

[Zicyx]

they will probably build spaceports all over the world, but we will ever remember that the first spaceport was buildid in america, as usual..:)

The one in singapore should be opening sooner, and of course dubai has also plans for a spaceport.

[romanamerican]

The one in singapore should be opening sooner, and of course dubai has also plans for a spaceport.

I'm quite shure Virgin galactic is starting in new mexico (they announced it a while ago and it was on all newpapers and television). But who knows, maybe they will surprise us.... I defenetly hope not :)

[romanamerican]

^^ ^^ ^^

Got confirmation from the Virgin Galactic web site. New Mexico is going to be the first spaceport. just as I thought :lol:

p.s. Sorry for the number of posts, but wanted to be shure of what I was talking about.

[KoolKeatz]

The whole project is a ecological nightmare. As usual in the USA.

[Sbz2ifc]

Interesting design. It reminds me of Saarinen's TWA Terminal at JFK.

[Newcastle Guy]

The whole project is a ecological nightmare. As usual in the USA.

YAWN.

[xXFallenXx]

The whole project is a ecological nightmare. As usual in the USA.
AWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!! Someone needs a hug!:hug:















































:tongue:

[romanamerican]

The whole project is a ecological nightmare. As usual in the USA.

What do you mean? please explain..

[Newcastle Guy]

they will probably build spaceports all over the world, but we will ever remember that the first spaceport was buildid in america, as usual..:)

Yep, and SPAmerica wouldn't have been commisioned had it not been for one very English man;)

[xXFallenXx]

Yep, and SPAmerica wouldn't have been commisioned had it not been for one very English man;)
i've been thinking about this.....

I think Richard Branson is to cool to be English so I've come to the conclusion that he is really American and he is just faking the accent because he thinks it sounds cool.
Prove me wrong...



:lol:

[Newcastle Guy]

lol!http://www.skyscrapercity.com/images/smilies/lol.gif

Well, you never know...;)

[romanamerican]

Yep, and SPAmerica wouldn't have been commisioned had it not been for one very English man;)

Dude, Mr Richard Branson is the one that got the agreement with Burt Rutan's Scale Composites that invented and developed space ship one (and the following space ship two). The creator of the Virgin galaxy(airways, cell company, music..) is the one that first made the agreement with this company with base in california. If Branson wouldn't have been anble to do the agreement between the two companies, there were many other companies that were waiting to get an agreement with Scale Composites, so instead of Virgin written on the otside of the spaceship we would have had something like american airlines or usairways (that already does trips to the high part of the atmosphere with an airplane (trip that is possible to use also with flyermiles).

So, either way, it would have been in america, no pint in denieing that.

[Newcastle Guy]

1. I couldn't give two flying fraks who else might have stepped up to the mark, the fact is, Mr Branson DID, and it is his money building these spaceship
2. I don't know if you misread my post, or if you somehow think that you can read my mind, but I didn't once deny that it was in America. On that note, I don't see what your problem is. I don't mind that it's in the US. I'm just happy we (The English) are playing a part in this. I don't know if you want all the success for your own country are what...

Bottom line: American Spaceport, English Company. let's just be happy that we are working together to make this happen, shall we?

[romanamerican]

1. I couldn't give two flying fraks who else might have stepped up to the mark, the fact is, Mr Branson DID, and it is his money building these spaceship
2. I don't know if you misread my post, or if you somehow think that you can read my mind, but I didn't once deny that it was in America. On that note, I don't see what your problem is. I don't mind that it's in the US. I'm just happy we (The English) are playing a part in this. I don't know if you want all the success for your own country are what...

Bottom line: American Spaceport, English Company. let's just be happy that we are working together to make this happen, shall we?

Yea I'm happy.....but one other mistake: I'm not american :)

[Newcastle Guy]

Oh- sorry. Your username misled me:D

[Newcastle Guy]

Construction starts in April. This is going to be one cool, sexy building.:cheers:

I think it will be quite hard getting construction updates though...

[xXFallenXx]

^^ yeah, it'll be hard, it's out in the middle of nowhere.

[mbuildings]

Some of them are getting curious about this "Spaceport"...

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc216/Athena_Fox/aliens.jpg


...that they held a meeting to discuss it.

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc216/Athena_Fox/aliens2.jpg

jajajajajjajajajajajajajajajjajajaj

[NickABQ]

I can get updates hey! Drive by the site at least twice a month.......

[SLion]

I can get updates hey! Drive by the site at least twice a month.......

Cool!

[Mr. Met]

can somebody post some picks of the other space ports around the world

[philvia]

can somebody post some picks of the other space ports around the world

i think his is the only one

[city_thing]

Kewel thread. :cool:

Here's where it's located.

http://spaceportamerica.com/images/spaceportMap.jpg

They shoulda put it closer to Roswell. :D

There's a town called 'Truth or Consequences'?

D:

[Mr. Met]

i think his is the only one
someone posted earlier on the thread that they are building in Dubai and somewhere else.

[Mr. Met]

http://www.webatomics.com/jason/Images/NMSpaceport/thumbs/Concrete%20launch%20pad-2.JPG
http://www.webatomics.com/jason/Images/NMSpaceport/thumbs/Concrete%20launch%20pad-sky-1.JPG
http://www.webatomics.com/jason/Images/NMSpaceport/thumbs/Concrete%20launch%20pad-5.JPG
http://www.webatomics.com/jason/Images/NMSpaceport/thumbs/Launch%20well-1.JPG
http://www.webatomics.com/jason/Images/NMSpaceport/thumbs/NMSU%20Bulldozers-1.JPG
http://www.webatomics.com/jason/Images/NMSpaceport/thumbs/NMSU%20%20Bulldozers-2.JPG
http://www.webatomics.com/jason/Images/NMSpaceport/thumbs/Cain%20ranch%20house.JPG
http://www.webatomics.com/jason/Images/NMSpaceport/thumbs/Cain%20ranch%20sign%20and%20windmill.JPG
http://www.webatomics.com/jason/Images/NMSpaceport/thumbs/Spaceport%20sign-1.JPG
http://www.webatomics.com/jason/Images/NMSpaceport/thumbs/Spaceport%20sign-2.JPG
http://www.webatomics.com/jason/Images/NMSpaceport/thumbs/Concrete%20launch%20pad-1.jpg
http://www.webatomics.com/jason/Images/NMSpaceport/thumbs/Concrete%20launch%20pad-3.jpg
http://www.webatomics.com/jason/Images/NMSpaceport/thumbs/Concrete%20launch%20pad-4.jpg
These were taken in March of 2006

[Vrysxy]

Thanx for the updates, but the pics are so tiny.. :(

[Mr. Met]

couldn't get them any bigger and they are from about 2 years ago.

[Mr. Met]

anybody have more recent photos?

[Mr. Met]

HffKW2Z0DPY

[Mr. Met]

any updates?

[romanamerican]

someone posted earlier on the thread that they are building in Dubai and somewhere else.

They are planning other spaceports, but they are still only on paper, nothing has been built (at least that is what I heard). That is why they are calling this one the first private spaceport in the world.

[Dallasbrink]

is this really under construction?

[TroyBoy]

is this really under construction?

Its pretty much finished.

[Mr. Met]

Its pretty much finished.

any pictures?

[nezzybaby]

^take a hint mr met, you've asked the same question every single day, there are no pictures. It's not like a new skyscraper where you can send somebody from down the road to take a few snapshots, the spaceport is in the middle of nowhere. There is also very little to see, essentially there will be a runway and a few small buildings, look at a small airport and imagine it to be very much the same. The spaceport is for launching scaled/virgin's Spaceshiptwo, these are launched from a support plane, so there is no major infrastructure required, just a large exclusion zone for safety reasons.

Scaled had a major setback last year when an explosion at one of their plants caused the death of three of their staff. There has been no news about the spaceshiptwo since. Scaled are also a company that pride themselves on secrecy, and you will probably not here any more about them until the plane is ready to fly. Patience is the key here, stop spamming this thread.

[Dallasbrink]

So what is the port going to be used for since we dont have space liners yet?

[Lightness]

So what is the port going to be used for since we dont have space liners yet?

But we do, Scaled has at least one and another one being delivered soon I think.

[nezzybaby]

^not yet they don't, virgin havent recieved any yet and there has as i say been no news from scaled in about 2 years now. The port is currently being used for commercial rocket tests, it is also the home of the X-prize cup, which is a yearly event designed to demonstrate the viability of commercial space flight. There have been a couple of rocket launches there in the last few years, and the cup attracts a large crowd.


more info here http://www.xprize.org/events-challenges/x-prize-cup

[nezzybaby]

^not yet they don't, virgin havent recieved any yet and there has as i say been no news from scaled in about 2 years now. ...

Best timing ever, new images of spaceshiptwo and whiteknighttwo were released yesterday, it is the most stunning vehicle ever designed, i can't wait to see them flying:

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44376000/jpg/_44376374_ss2_wk2_416.jpg

article including video here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7205445.stm

[Dallasbrink]

^^ Pretty little airplane!

[nezzybaby]

tis a spaceplane!! can take 8 people into space, will be the worlds first commercial spaceplane

[TU 'cane]

Wow, this is all simply amazing.

[Dallasbrink]

Timmy: Can i fly it?
Narrator: Why yes little Timmy, you can, anyone can fly one with just 5 years of training
Timmy: 5 years?
Narrator: Yes...or you can be kicked out of Nasa for driving from Houston to Florida to kill your ex astronaut boy friends new astronaut girl friend!
Timmy: Win Win
Together:HAHAHAHA

[xzmattzx]

As far as construction photos go, this place is in the middle of the desert, literally 30 miles from any town.

I found out that it is near the "town" of Upham (which looks to be just a dot on the map, no buildings at all). The only building even close to Upham is 7 miles northeast of the "town". Here are the pictures of those buildings. I don't know if they are the Spaceport or not, but I didn't find anything else, so by process of elimination it has to be something.

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/9848/spaceport1oc2.jpg

http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/3677/spaceport2xj8.jpg

[Dallasbrink]

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/9848/spaceport1oc2.jpg

http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/3677/spaceport2xj8.jpg

ya, that would be a farm, shows how much someone from Philly knows

[nezzybaby]

Timmy: Can i fly it?
Narrator: Why yes little Timmy, you can, anyone can fly one with just 5 years of training

Training period is minimal, all you need is the $200K fee for the flight

Timmy: 5 years?
Narrator: Yes...or you can be kicked out of Nasa for driving from Houston to Florida to kill your ex astronaut boy friends new astronaut girl friend!


NASA has no involvement at all in this project, it is a joint venture from Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites

Timmy: Win Win
Together:HAHAHAHA

yes we all remember the amusing story of the astronaut that did something naughty, fancy telling us the election results from four years ago, or are you gonna start posting rellevant comments??

:)

[aussiescraperman]

this is awesome....i'm definitely going to get into space before i die.....woohoo!

[Newcastle Guy]

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44376000/jpg/_44376374_ss2_wk2_416.jpg

I love the new design and the way it incorporates the Virgin Galactic Iris Logo. Looks like a cool, futuristic and sleeker version of the space shuttle. They have done a great job with this, aesthetically at least, just as Foster has done with the Spaceport.

Here is another view of SS2:

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee65/1xXFallenXx16/23ship-600.jpg

Size and design comparisons of SS1 and SS2:

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44378000/gif/_44378624_spaceshiptwo_diag_416.gif

http://i.n.com.com/i/ne/p/2007/photo1_chart-550x389.jpg

Richard and a model of the ship:

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/news_images/20080125/p10d.jpg

Other models:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-01/24/xin_532010524194895333219.jpg

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-01/24/xin_54201052419480932513510.jpg

Simulator:

http://i.n.com.com/i/ne/p/2007/VirginGalactic5-550x367.jpg

Construction pic of the first WhiteKnightTwo:

http://i.n.com.com/i/ne/p/2007/VirginGalactic8-550x367.jpg

Construction pics of the VSS Enterprise:

http://www.flightglobal.com/assets/getAsset.aspx?ItemID=21215

http://i.n.com.com/i/ne/p/2007/VirginGalactic6-550x367.jpg

http://i.n.com.com/i/ne/p/2007/VirginGalactic7-550x367.jpg

Branson and Rutan:

http://ca.reuters.com/resources/r/?m=02&d=20080123&t=2&i=2884059&w=&r=2008-01-23T193916Z_01_NOOTR_RTRIDSP_0_TECH-VIRGIN-SPACESHIP-COL

You can tell how passionate Richard is about this. That can only be a good thing.