Branson's Spaceport Project is Blasted as 'A Rich Man's Dream'
 David Usborne - Independent News & Media
| | Branson is planning to relocate Virgin Galactic, with 200 employees, from London to New Mexico. |
A spaceport in the New Mexican desert, which has Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic company as an anchor tenant, has hit unexpected turbulence in the form of local residents.
With backing from the state's Democrat Governor, Bill Richardson, as well as business leaders, construction is meant to begin soon on the 27 square mile (70sq km) facility near Las Cruces, the second-largest city in the state. Indeed, Mr Branson has signed up for a 20-year lease and expects in time to launch three space flights a day.
Last night, however, the project was in the balance as election officials in surrounding Doña Ana County, home mostly to ranchers and sun-seeking retired people, were completing their count after a referendum held on Tuesday seeking approval of a modest increase in sales tax to fund it.
The tax rise is crucial to help top up the roughly $225m (£114m) that will be needed to build Spaceport America. The plans include a 10,000ft (3km) runway for planes big enough to lift spacecraft to an altitude of 60,000ft where they can be released. There will also be a launch pad for vertical rockets and both hangar and terminal facilities.
If it turns out that voters have rejected the tax request, the spaceport will almost certainly be doomed. After the counting of some 17,168 votes last night, those in favour were leading by a mere 238 votes. Meanwhile, another 541 provisional ballots still had to be counted. Two other counties are also set to vote. If Doña Ana votes against, they may not bother trying.
In theory, the Spaceport should be a boon for the area, whichrelies on cotton and chilli farming. Mr Branson alone is planning to relocate Virgin Galactic, with 200 employees, from London to New Mexico. Another British entrepreneur, Steve Bennett, also hopes to use the Spaceport for sending tourists into space.
It seems, however, that catering to the very rich - first flights with Virgin Galactic offering five minutes of weightlessness will cost $200,000 each - does not sit well with residents.
"I do not see any reason that every time I buy a dress for my wife I should have to pay more taxes," said George Gandara, 63, a business owner. Carol Garcia, 52, agreed. "It's just a rich man's dream that he needs us to help pay for. If it's your dream, build it yourself."
The state's head of economic development, Rick Homans, defended the scheme: "On one hand, there is a healthy scepticism and a great deal of caution about the project," he said. "And on the other, there is a lot of optimism for what it could do for the state."
The tycoon has promised to begin flights as early as 2009, taking passengers not exactly into space but at least into very high-altitude excursions that will ensure brief periods of weightlessness. In time, however, he plans to sell trips that will be sub-orbital and eventually will break out of the atmosphere and into space. |
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Technology News | April 2007 
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