Virgin Galactic and the State of New Mexico have signed a 20-year lease for VG to use the new Spaceport America to launch its space tourism flights. VG will also build its worldwide headquarters at Spaceport America.
The length of the lease is interesting. It's among the first solid indications that the space tourism industry is planning to be more than a flash in the pan, Twenty years also brings the development of the industry into play. Quick suborbital flights will lose their novelty at some point. The next logical step would be orbital flights in spacecraft that are safe, comfortable, and reusable for dozens or hundreds of flights without major overhauls. In fact, such craft are the key to humanity's expansion into the Solar System, and we are nowhere near having those vehicles. Will we have them in twenty years, and will they launch from a commercial spaceport in New Mexico? Much rides on the answer.
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