Official News - page 8

REAL LIFE NEWS: BUILDING THE WORLD'S FIRST SPACEPORT

by Hazed

New Mexico hopes to start work soon on the world's commercial spaceport. The governor and legislature of the state hope it will become the departure point for the various space tourism businesses which are aiming to take paying passengers into space soon.

The prospective site is in Dona Ana County municipality and now the voters from that municipality will make their opinions known in a referendum on a new sales tax to fund the project. This would add 25 cents to a 100-dollar purchase, bringing in about 6.5 million dollars per year. The state legislature has already secured 33 million dollars for the first design of "Spaceport America" and has also received broad support from local lawmakers.

The state will find itself in something of a space race in their bid to be the first functioning spaceport. "There are a handful of spaceports that have been announced globally," officials said. "We view these spaceports as confirmation that a new industry is emerging."

Elsewhere in the US, work on commercial spaceports is underway in California and Oklahoma, and globally spaceports are planned in Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.

The New Mexico Spaceport would be built on 18,000 acres of desert valley land rented from a handful of local ranchers for 25 years, with options to renew for further 25-year periods.

Virgin Galactic has already signed on as a tenant of the new Spaceport Amercia and have invested 250 million dollars in the project.

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