Spaceport America attracts reusable rocket business

Space.com : The first private commercial spaceport in the US, Spaceport America, is officially open in New Mexico and doing considerable business. A number of companies have already launched vehicles from the site, and according to Leonard David, writing for Space.com, the spaceport “is becoming a desirable location to experiment with new types of reusable booster systems.” On 4 December Texas’s Armadillo Aerospace tested its STIG A reusable suborbital rocket technology. The company plans to provide manned suborbital spaceflight through a partnership with Virginia’s space tourism firm Space Adventures. Also, defense contractor Lockheed Martin has entered into an agreement with the governor-appointed New Mexico Spaceport Authority to conduct flight test operations of its reusable booster systems. And one of the spaceport’s anchor tenants is Virgin Galactic, which plans to operate suborbital spaceflights for the paying public, perhaps as early as next year.