Virgin Galactic Announces Completion of Spaceport America, the World’s First Commercial Spaceport

Virgin Galactic and its thoroughly British CEO, Richard Branson, announced another milestone on their way to opening the world’s first commercial spaceport: Construction is finished, and the terminal and hangar have been dedicated.

Virgin seems to be updating us fairly frequently, with equally frequent dedication ceremonies, on the progress of the spaceport. Just one year ago, they toasted the completed runway. But now, construction on Spaceport America, located a remote section of desert in New Mexico’s Sierra County, seems to be finished. The hangar and terminal will be home to the new shuttle, mission control, and a waiting area for soon-to-be astronauts.

The company expects to begin test flights next year.

Virgin

 

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Dan Nosowitz is a freelance writer and editor who has written for Popular Science, The Awl, Gizmodo, Fast Company, BuzzFeed, and elsewhere. He holds an undergraduate degree from McGill University and currently lives in Brooklyn, because he has a beard and glasses and that's the law. You can follow him on Twitter.