LAS CRUCES, New Mexico – Leading space entrepreneurs have gathered here to assess the political and economic climate for personal and commercial spaceflight.
Meanwhile, construction crews are at work at a neighboring but remote site – busily completing Spaceport America. It is the world’s first purpose-built commercial spaceport, designed to facilitate safe, frequent, and low-cost access to space.
This Friday, Spaceport America’s huge runway to handle outgoing and incoming travelers to the edge of space will be dedicated.
Indeed, major strides are being made by such private space operators as Virgin Galactic, Armadillo Aerospace and Masten Space Systems. These groups and others will be spotlighted this week under a conference banner: “Creating the Future of Commercial Space…Together.”
“Over the next two days, our conference is going to focus on the incremental steps toward building the spaceflight business,” said Pat Hynes, Chair of the sixth annual International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight, or ISPCS for short.
“While individual companies are making progress on their own projects, it is by working as a group that we have been able to influence national space policy and the export controls that have been limiting progress,” Hynes explained. “It cannot be an all-government endeavor, nor purely a private enterprise. As we redefine the role of each in our industry, we also must learn to collaborate internationally, for business and benefits of spaceflight cross all international boundaries.”
By Leonard David