Virgin Galactic's first non-US spaceport

Thanks to Boing Boing for pointing me to the Air & Space article concerning Richard Branson’s Virgin Galatic's to make the company’s first launch site outside the United States. And that site is in one of the most remote places possible, but not completely unknown to the tourist trade, Kiruna Sweden, 90 miles north of the arctic circle, barely rise above 15 degrees Fahrenheit for months on end. The town is also known as the location of the "Ice Hotel".

Virgin plans to launch sub-orbital flights as early as next year. From the article:

• Kiruna could soon be hosting hundreds of space tourists. Suborbital spaceflights from Kiruna, Virgin Galactic spokespeople have promised, could send tourists straight through the Aurora Borealis.

Of course Kiruna has not gone without some level of interest from the Swedish military. Again from the article:

• Because of its remote location and minimal air traffic, Kiruna has been home to an array of aerospace activities for almost half a century. The Swedish government established a space research center here in 1964. The center, called Esrange, today includes a 3,240-square-mile range for launching sounding rockets.

Though in truth, lots needs to be done before even a shovel of permafrost is moved. First and foremost, the US government needs to sign off on exporting the technologies that could possibly used for other purposes. And the Swedish government has got to sign off as well.

Read the complete article here

Spaceport America: First Looks at a New Space Terminal

URS Corporation took the wraps off new images that showcase the sprawling main terminal and hangar at the first purpose build Space Port - Spaceport America. Selected from an international field of eleven firms, the winning design is the work of URS Corporation - a large design and engineering enterprise - teamed with Foster + Partners of the United Kingdom, a group with extensive experience in crafting airport buildings. When the 100,000 square-foot (9,290 square-meter) facility is completed it will serve as the primary operating base for Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic suborbital spaceliner, and also as the headquarters for the New Mexico Spaceport Authority. The design chosen is a low-lying, striking bit of construction that uses natural earth as a berm, and relies on passive energy for heating and cooling, with photovoltaic panels for electricity and water recycling capabilities. A rolling concrete shell acts as a roof with massive windows opening to a view of the runway and spacecraft.

Thanks to Shaun A. Saunders for the post

Ed Regis on the future of spaceports

Boing Boing looks at the growing phenom of Space-Ports - some interesting ideas and links

Here is a blurb from the article:


The new issue of Air & Space Smithsonian features a look at the future of spaceports, bases for space tourism that are being proposed all over the world, from Singapore and Sweden to Uphan, New Mexico, Columbus, Ohio, and Sheyboygan, Wisconsin. (The author of the article, Ed Regis, has written several fantastic future science books like the Great Mambo Chicken And The Transhuman Condition and Nano! The True Story of Nanotechnology.) (Seen here is a conceptual drawing of Space Adventures' Spaceport Singapore.)