Is sending rich people into space the future of our economy, or a disaster in the making? The $200 billion Spaceport in the New Mexican desert is ready to open its doors, although the first voyage from Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic has been pushed back for another year at least. The Herald-Sun writes:
New Mexico Tourism Secretary Monique Jacobson says it will be New Mexico’s Sydney Opera House. Virgin Galactic Chairman Richard Branson has hinted it will host the first of his new brand of lifestyle hotels. And the eclectic hot springs town of Truth or Consequences has been anxiously awaiting all the economic development the $200 billion project is supposed to bring to this largely rural part of southern New Mexico.
Currently, the Spaceport can count on two rocket companies that send vertical payloads into space and Virgin Galactic, the Branson space tourism venture that says it has signed up more than 500 wealthy adventurers for $US200,000 ($192,000)-per-person spaceflights.
