The US$218.5 million USA spaceport that was built to host rocket flights for space tourists is casting around for new customers in the wake of the Virgin Galactic crash.
The October accident, which cost the life of one of the pilots, has seen Virgin’s plans to begin commercial flights in early 2015 suffer a serious setback.
Spaceport America, built by the state of New Mexico at taxpayers’ expense, is the world’s first purpose-built commercial spaceport, designed with the needs of the space tourism business in mind. With Virgin Galactic its main tenant, the facility had been preparing to cater for the launch of commercial flights soon, but now most of the buildings will continue to sit unused.
The bulk of the construction work on the site was completed in 2012.
New Mexico Spaceport Authority director Christine Anderson said: “The plan has always stressed diversification in revenue streams. It’s Spaceport America, not Virgin Galactic Spaceport. We were thrilled to have Virgin Galactic as an anchor tenant, but we’ve always sought other customers.”
The authority, which manages the facility, faced a grilling by the state’s House of Representatives at the end of 2014 about how it plans to bring in revenue now that it looks like space tourism is unlikely to become a reality for several more years.
The authority has asked for further funding from the state to help plug its budget deficit and pay for a new hangar.
While it waits for the commercial space industry to take off, the spaceport has been able to make use of its futuristic buildings as a backdrop for filmmakers, with Land Rover and Kawasaki both having filmed commercials at the spaceport.
