Though its existence has been much less publicized than that of the Southwest Regional Spaceport at Upham in
It’s financed by billionaire Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, and being built north of
But watch out. It’s on schedule to compete with
According to an article on Space.com, Blue Origin’s New Shepard Reusable Launch System is planned for commercial flights beginning in 2010. New Mexico’s plan has full-scale commercial launches beginning in 2009, but UP Aerospace’s planned March launch, necessary to collect data for the federal license, was delayed until May and has still not happened.
New details of the Blue Origin plan became public because the company recently submitted its draft environmental assessment to the Federal Aviation Administration, Space.com reported.
The company plans to launch reusable space vehicles into suborbital space. In addition to the launch site, the facility will include a vehicle processing facility, landing and recovery area, and astronaut training facility.
The company plans to complete construction of most of the facility this year (faster than
A public hearing will be held July 25 at the Van Horn Convention Center, Space.com reported.
Folks, we have ourselves a race.