Four decades after the first manned space flight, that frontier remains inaccessible to all except a select few astronauts and mega-rich civilians.
But a handful of entrepreneurs, flush with cash and daring vision, are working to dramatically change the world of space travel.
A group of dreamers that includes Microsoft’s Paul Allen and Virgin Atlantic Airways’ Richard Branson wants to commercialize suborbital travel and take the cost of a spaceflight from $20 million to $200,000 to, perhaps, a price affordable for the masses.
Branson has said that 38,000 people from 126 countries have paid a deposit for a $200,000 flight to space from a proposed spaceport in New Mexico.
The two-hour flights would soar more than 60 miles above Earth and include six minutes of weightlessness.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta said during a speech at the 9th Annual Commercial Space Transportation Conference in Washington this month that the government could approve commercial passenger space flights as early as 2008.
“This timeline isn’t based on science fiction,” Mineta said. “It is a timeline based on the reality of where commercial space is today and where we expect the state of commercial space to be within two short years.”
It is a new world in which Colorado – touted as the nation’s fourth-largest state for aerospace – is on the sidelines.
Some state officials and industry experts say Colorado should focus on its strengths, such as defense operations and satellite imagery, until the new frontier of space tourism matures.
“We may not have the first (private) spaceport, but the first ones are going to take the highest risks,” said Brian Vogt, director of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade. “I’m guessing in the next couple of years, certainly in the next decade, you’re going to see us step up activity in the whole spaceport and space tourism arena.”
Others said Colorado shouldn’t wait any longer to launch efforts to lure and support the new space ventures.
“With advancements in future space launch vehicles, some of us … see our state supporting potential military launch and landings for defense, homeland security and remote sensing,” said William Hoffman, director of space studies for Webster University, which has campuses in Colorado Springs and the Denver Tech Center.
“Additionally, we could support scientific and routine access to space for a broad range of new space business operations – including the potential for space tourism.”
He said Colorado should try to gain designation as a potential commercial or state-operated “spaceport” site from the Federal Aviation Administration’s commercial space transportation office.
Twelve states have already done so.
“Designation simply means you have an interest in future space activities that may require licensing,” said Hoffman.
Presence on the spaceport map doesn’t necessarily guarantee that the site will win certification for spacecraft launches. Only four of the 12 states – Alaska, California, Florida and Virginia – have commercial or state-operated sites that are licensed for launches.
The first step in the designation process would require a proclamation from Gov. Bill Owens.
Hoffman highlighted some of the strengths that would help Colorado become a leader in the new space world:
More than 150 companies in the state support aerospace production, services and consulting.
Denver is a mile high, which means less fuel would be required for launches.
Colorado is home to four military commands – the Air Force Space Command, the Army Space Command, the North American Defense Command and the U.S. Northern Command.
Gen. Lance Lord, an outspoken space advocate, said he encourages entrepreneurs to pursue their dreams of turning space into a tourist attraction.
“It’s just what we need,” said Lord, who is retiring April 1 as commander of the Air Force Space Command in Colorado Springs. “It’s important for us. I think that’s kind of in our DNA as Americans.”
Some of Colorado’s economic development officials said the state should focus on proven industries and projects. They point to initiatives such as the proposed military rocket-launch alliance between Lockheed Martin and Boeing that will bring as many as 800 new jobs to the Denver metro area.
“We’ve got projects going on right now that are solid and real projects,” said Dick Hinson, vice president of the Aurora Economic Development Council and a member of the Colorado Space Coalition.
An estimated 142,000 Colorado residents work in aerospace-related jobs.
“Right now, our focus is mostly on space defense systems. That’s where our strength in the Colorado aerospace economy lies,” said Tom Clark, executive vice president of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp.
When asked if Colorado should offer incentives to lure the space tourism industry, Clark said “Colorado tends to be parsimonious when it comes to” spending big bucks to attract companies.
Trip Carter, who worked for Gov. Owens in 2002 and 2003 to update the state’s space strategic plan, said commercial space travel is still at least 20 years away.
“To me, it’s somewhat analogous to being in the 1890s and saying we’re going to build a highway system in the U.S. in anticipation of everyone owning a car,” said Carter, now the director for advanced programs for Raytheon in Aurora.
While Colorado waits on the sidelines, much has already transpired in the space tourism industry in other states.
In New Mexico, state leaders are using tax dollars to build a $200 million commercial spaceport as part of efforts to get approved for launches. The state has a deal with Branson’s Virgin Galactic, which plans to send tourists into space as early as 2008 from the New Mexico spaceport.
In Florida, Gov. Jeb Bush is seeking $55 million in tax money to help the state stay in the new space race and create a plan for a commercial spaceport.
In Texas, Amazon.com’s Jeff Bezos is spending more than $20 million to build a rocket-ship complex. Bezos plans to build spacecraft and rocket engines at the facility, with the long-term goal of eventually launching space tourists from the site.
In Nevada, hotelier Robert Bigelow is offering $50 million to the first company that can build a space vehicle by January 2010 that can take at least five people into orbit. Bigelow said he hopes to build space hotels that will have an initial price tag of $1 million a night.
In California, PayPal founder Elon Musk is spending some of his personal fortune on a start-up rocket launch company that he hopes can win Bigelow’s prize. His company, Space Exploration Technologies, also aims to dramatically cut the cost of rocket launches from more than $100 million to less than $10 million.
Elsewhere, Virginia-based space tourism outfit Space Adventures is planning to build a spaceport in the United Arab Emirates. Eric Anderson, the CEO of Space Adventures, grew up in Littleton.
The company cut a deal two weeks ago with the Ansari family to build a fleet of suborbital spacecraft that will seat up to five people.
The Ansari family funds the $10 million Ansari X Prize, which aims to boost space tourism development.
Renowned aircraft designer Burt Rutan won the Ansari X Prize in 2004 with SpaceShipOne, which was the first private spacecraft to fly into space. Paul Allen funded the $20 million craft. Branson plans to use a fleet of spacecraft built by Rutan for Virgin Galactic.
“I hope to fly 100,000 people in SpaceShipTwo,” Rutan told The Denver Post in October.
Staff writer Andy Vuong can be reached at 303-820-1209 or avuong@denverpost.com.
Airport launches?
Space travel advocate William Hoffman said Colorado could support horizontal spacecraft launches and landings – similar to how commercial flights take off and land – from Denver International Airport or the Colorado Springs airport.
“Denver opened a 16,000-foot runway, which easily makes it a potential landing site; whereas Colorado Springs had, at one time, a NASA certification as an alternate shuttle landing site,” Hoffman said. “The state has more than 80,000 acres of land surrounding these two airports that could be viewed as opportunities to capture a future hold on commercial space transportation.”
