2007 - should be a great year for all our Spaceports!

Actually I have started another Space Blog but since this one is actually here, I can update, so here goes.

First we have Bigelow Aerospace and this picture is of their plant in North Las Vegas, NV. Bigelow has 100 employees at this plant working steadily. They already have an inflatable spacecraft orbiting the earth at 300 miles up! Genesis I and will soon send up Genesis II. They are real space pioneers and plan to build a basic inexpensive space hotel for tourists who can't afford the luxury of the planned Hilton, etc. space hotels. Then we have a photo of the Canadian Arrow, which is Canada's addition to suborbital space ventures. All very exciting.

Blue Origin and Suborbital Space

Blue Origin is to Van Horn Texas as Branson is to New Mexico.



MAP: The Blue Origin launch site would be 25 miles (40.2 kilometers) north of Van Horn, Texas. Credit: Blue Origin. Click to enlarge.
Public Weighs in on West Texas Spaceport Plan
Bezos' Blue Origin to Set Up Rocket HQ in Washington State
Details Emerge on Jeff Bezos' Space Plans
Blue Origin Spaceport Plans are Talk of Texas Town


Amazon Founder's Rocket Plans Take Flight as New Details, Images Emerge By Leonard DavidSenior Space Writerposted: 4 January 2007ET
The secretive doings of the Blue Origin rocket team have become less guarded thanks to a first-hand account from the group’s deep-pocketed backer: Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com fame and fortune.
The quest of Blue Origin rocketeers is to create a passenger-carrying suborbital rocket, dubbed the New Shepard.
For the first time, details of the team’s first development flight in the New Shepard step-by-step project have been made available [launch video]. That test took place nearly two months ago, on the morning of November 13, 2006 – from their privately-owned West Texas space launch site in Culberson County, Texas [map].
Step by step
“We launched and landed Goddard - a first development vehicle in the New Shepard program,” Bezos noted Jan. 2 on the Blue Origin website. “The launch was both useful and fun. Many friends and family came to watch the launch and support the team,” he said.
The Goddard vertical takeoff and landing rocket reached a maximum altitude of roughly 285 feet (87 meters) on its first development flight [image]. The rocket lifted off and landed upon the same pad on a set of legs. The Goddard test hop was delayed a few days due to gusting winds in the area.
“We’re working, patiently and step-by-step, to lower the cost of spaceflight so that many people can afford to go…and so that we humans can better continue exploring the solar system,” Bezos reported. “Accomplishing this mission will take a long time, and we’re working on it methodically. We believe in incremental improvement and in keeping investments at a pace that's sustainable.”
Bezos explained that “slow and steady” is the way to achieve results.
That philosophy can be seen on the Goddard test rocket itself, imbued with the words: “Gradatim Ferociter” – Latin for step-by-step, by degrees and fiercely doing so with spirit.
“We do not kid ourselves into thinking this will get easier as we go along. Smaller, more frequent steps drive a faster rate of learning, help us maintain focus, and give each of us an opportunity to see our latest work fly sooner,” Bezos said.
Reaction to the Bezos account of the Blue Origin success was provided to SPACE.com in a statement from Patti Grace Smith, the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation (AST) in Washington, D.C.
“Jeff Bezos and the Blue Origin

FAA sets guidelines for space travel

Before strapping in to an American private spaceship, you’ll be told about the risk as well as rewards of flying the friendly space skies.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued on December 15 a set of rules for crew passengers – dubbed “Space Flight Participants” involved in private human space flight.
The FAA rulemaking is crafted to protect the safety of the uninvolved public. They also call for measures that enable passengers -- before they buckle into spaceships -- to make informed decisions about their personal safety.
“The regulations require launch vehicle operators to provide certain safety-related information and identify what an operator must do to conduct a licensed launch with a human on board,” the FAA explained in a statement.
In addition, launch operators must inform passengers of the risks of space travel generally and the risks of space travel in the operator’s vehicle in particular. The newly released regulations also include training and general security requirements for space flight participants.
Phased approach
The FAA regulations don’t just deal with passengers, but also the pilots that welcome space travelers onboard their company spaceship. Spelled out are requirements for crew notification, medical qualifications and training.
Provisions governing environmental control and life support systems onboard a spaceship are also noted. In addition, the regulations require a launch vehicle operator to verify the integrated performance of a vehicle’s hardware and any software in an operational environment.
The Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) within the FAA led the work in creating the private human space flight requirements for crew and space flight participants.
Congress mandated the regulations in the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004. Because public space travel is a fledgling industry, lawmakers called for a phased approach in regulating commercial human space flight - with regulatory standards evolving as the industry matures.
Collaboration with industry
“This new transportation challenge brings added responsibility for the public’s well-being,” said Mary Peters, U.S. Secretary of Transportation. “These new space travel rules are consistent with the department’s long-standing commitment to public safety.”
“Private human space flight will be an unparalleled adventure,” said FAA Administrator Marion Blakey. “In an environment where some level of risk will always be present, this action underscores the FAA’s firm commitment to public safety.”
The Personal Spaceflight Federation (PSF) also noted the new rulemaking. It applauded the direction provided by the FAA’s AST “in helping to build the foundations for personal spaceflight,” said Alex Tai, Chairman of the PSF.
Tai is also chief operating officer of Virgin Galactic – the public spaceliner group set up by British billionaire, Sir Richard Branson.
The PSF is comprised of private, public and non-profit organizations working to make commercial human spaceflight a reality. PSF members include spaceship developers and operators, spaceports, space destinations, and space transportation agents.
“The PSF welcomes the collaboration with industry that AST sought in creating these rules,” Tai told SPACE.com.
VIDEO: Virgin Galactic: Let the Journey Begin
VIDEO: How to Build a Tour-Ship for Space
Burt Rutan on Civilian Spaceflight, Breakthroughs, and Inside SpaceShipTwo
Space Adventures Offers $15 Million Spacewalks for ISS Visitors
Wide Range of Rocket Tech for Civilian Spaceflight
Public Space Travel: Building the Business Case
Space Tourism: Keeping The Customer Satisfied
Experience the Future of Flight

Singapore Spaceport

http://www.spaceportsingapore.com/spattractions.html

Space Fun

We have a new industry in this country and also in other towns across the world. Private Space Companies who plan to send tourists into Space and return them. Imagine elaborate Space hotels as well as simple inexpensive blow-up modules that will offer tourists a sub-orbital experience. I will provide photos of plans for Spaceports here in New Mexico as well as in places like: Singapore. Sounds like fun and there are so many industries that are springing up to provide services for these new endeavors. Things like Spacesuits for instance.