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Commercialization

Virgin Galactic Is Moving To Its Launch Site

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
May 10, 2019
Filed under
Virgin Galactic Is Moving To Its Launch Site

Sir Richard Branson Announces Virgin Galactic Move to Spaceport America this Summer, as Company Readies for Commercial Service
“At a press conference today at the New Mexico State Capitol Building in Santa Fe, hosted by New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, Virgin Founder Sir Richard Branson announced that Virgin Galactic’s development and testing program had advanced sufficiently to move the spaceline staff and space vehicles from Mojave, California to their commercial operations headquarters at Spaceport America, New Mexico. The move, which involves more than 100 staff, will commence immediately and continue through the summer, to minimise schooling disruption for families. Virgin Galactic partnered with New Mexico in an agreement which saw the state complete construction of Spaceport America, the world’s first, purpose-built commercial spaceport, and Virgin Galactic committing to center its commercial spaceflight activities at the facilities once its vehicles and operations were ready for service.”

NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.

8 responses to “Virgin Galactic Is Moving To Its Launch Site”

  1. Daniel Woodard says:
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    I continue to feel the hybrid rocket is less practical for a reusable spacecraft than liquid propulsion due to the amount of time and work required to refuel.

    • Jack says:
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      I’m not sure how a hybrid is fueled but if it was a solid you could remove the old and just insert a new one and be ready to go. Just like a Estes model rocket.

    • ThomasLMatula says:
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      I agree, the entire system is a dead end technology. I expect they will just fly out the reservation list they have over the next few years, declare victory, and retire it to a museum somewhere.

    • HammerOn1024 says:
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      I’m sorry sir but with respect to your feelings, facts speak louder. For it’s intended purpose, these engines are quite a good fit for this mission. They are safe to store in quantity, using reasonable environmental controls, much quicker to turn around, and require minimal ground support when compared to all liquid systems.

  2. ThomasLMatula says:
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    The families moving will be very surprised at the difference in the cost of living between Las Cruces and Mojave, especially the much lower gas prices and taxes. They should see a pretty nice raise in their disposable income. You could get a nice home for a fraction of the price of California homes. I wonder if they will do anymore test flights at Mojave or if they will stop until they are setup at the spaceport.

    • fcrary says:
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      I’m not sure about that. A quick check tells me the cost of living in Mojave is about half the average for California as a whole, and slightly under the US average. In some cases, the contrast is over a factor of five ($100,000 for a house versus the $550,000 average for California.) Actually, another quick check makes it look like Las Cruces isn’t significantly less expensive. Some parts of California are not as insanely expensive as the Bay area or Los Angeles.

      • ThomasLMatula says:
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        True, but to do an Apples to Apples you would compare Mojave to T&C. There really isn’t anything in Mojave other than the airport, you would need to go at least to Palmdale to find things to do, which is where I expect most of them to actually be living that have families.

        But the big difference will be in their take home pay due to the much lower taxes in New Mexico, less than half the California rate.

  3. mfwright says:
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    Will have to see how business will boom in this area, I heard so far not much. Though working on or riding the vehicle may be exciting, living in the area does not have much amenities unless you are a rock climbing or desert rat specialist.