'Ground control to Major Tom...'
Space travel coming to Texas
by Jody L. Slaughter
A Seattle-based space travel company, Blue Origin, has announced plans to build a spaceport near the small West Texas town of Van Horn. The venture could begin making commercial passenger flights into space within the next several years.
Representatives of the usually-secretive company met with the Van Horn community on Tuesday to outline their plans for 165,000-acre site which is owned by Amazon.com founder and Blue Origin backer Jeff Bezos. The land is part of the Corn Ranch in Culberson County.
According to the company's Web site, the facility will be used for the testing and operation of their Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV). The craft will take off and land vertically and carry three or more passengers into space. Blue Origin must complete an Environmental Assessment and obtain an FAA Commercial Launch Operator license before launches can begin. Flight testing is planned for late 2006.
Blue Origin is not alone in its quest for passenger space travel, however. Other companies racing into space include SpaceShipOne, Armadillo Aerospace and Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic.
by Jody L. Slaughter
A Seattle-based space travel company, Blue Origin, has announced plans to build a spaceport near the small West Texas town of Van Horn. The venture could begin making commercial passenger flights into space within the next several years.
Representatives of the usually-secretive company met with the Van Horn community on Tuesday to outline their plans for 165,000-acre site which is owned by Amazon.com founder and Blue Origin backer Jeff Bezos. The land is part of the Corn Ranch in Culberson County.
According to the company's Web site, the facility will be used for the testing and operation of their Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV). The craft will take off and land vertically and carry three or more passengers into space. Blue Origin must complete an Environmental Assessment and obtain an FAA Commercial Launch Operator license before launches can begin. Flight testing is planned for late 2006.
Blue Origin is not alone in its quest for passenger space travel, however. Other companies racing into space include SpaceShipOne, Armadillo Aerospace and Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic.
posted by Jody L. Slaughter at 12:43 PM
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