spaceport

Will Sheboygan Be The Home Of A New Space Port?

Filed under: Wings

We've done plenty of talking about New Mexico's spaceport plans but is there anywhere else in the United States that has space plans? The town of Sheboygan, Wisconsin of all places, has their own idea to create a Midwest space research center and launchpad. The idea includes converting a World War II armory into a space research facility. The hope is to cash in on the space tourism market. Sheboygan has been firing small rockets into the atmosphere as part of the Rockets for Schools program and offers a place of restricted airspace over Lake Michigan for rocket and jet-plane space launches. The FAA has given Sheboygan authorization for suborbital flights. All they need is the cash and the Wisconsin State Legislature is considering creating a state aerospace authority which would be The Wisconsin state legislature is considering a measure to create a state aerospace authority, which could sell up to $100 million in bonds to purchase land and build a launch facility.

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Tags: sheboygan, space, space tourism, spaceport, wisconsin

The Rocket Racing League Plans New Mexico Headquarters

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

More news on the growing space industry in New Mexico. Aero-News Network reports that New Mexico governor Bill Richardson has announced that the Rocket Racing League, the NASCAR of the sky, will have its world headquarters in New Mexico. The Rocket Racing League will be based in Las Cruces and will also have facilities at the Southwest Regional Spaceport. Races will be held around the country with the semi-finals at the Reno Air Show in Nevada and the finals in New Mexico in conjunction with the X PRIZE CUP competition. The X-Racer rockets race a three-dimensional track that is one-mile high, two miles long, and a half-mile across and will race three to four laps around the course between pit stops. Cameras will follow the race from balloons, chase planes and the cockpits of vehicles.

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Tags: new mexico, NewMexico, rocket racing league, space, spaceport

Jeff Bezos Has Super Secret Space Plans

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

I'd been sucked in by Richard Branson's dog-and-pony show regarding Virgin Galactic but meanwhile Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos has been planning his own space lair for his aerospace company, Blue Origin. According to this AP story, Bezos recently bought a 165,000 acre ranch in West Texas that he plans to use for test launches and that will eventually be the home of his spaceport. There aren't a lot of details yet but Bezos is somewhat interested in space tourism but is aiming at building ships to orbit earth creating permanent space colonies. Blue Origin has designed a ship that will take off vertically and carry three passengers.

[via AV Web]

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Tags: amazon, blue origin, jeff bezos, JeffBezos, rocket ship, space, space tourism, spaceport