A Vacation in Space: The Aerospace Corporation's Support of Spaceport Development

Glenn Law

The Aerospace Corporation has been assisting individual states as they develop plans for spaceports. Aerospace also has been working with the Federal Aviation Administration on issues related to the emerging field of space tourism.

With several generations of fascinating science fiction books and movies as part of our cultural foundation, it is not surprising that many ask, "Where do I buy a ticket for a ride to space, and what week do I set aside for my space vacation?" The industry that will make this possible is primarily concerned with four issues: the size and composition of its market (its source of revenue); the safety and reliability of its vehicles; the timing, type, and amount of government regulation; and the availability and cost of investment funds. The challenge is that all of these issues must be worked in unison to create a viable industry.

The market for high-volume commercial space is focused on suborbital and orbital space tourism. A continuous stream of market studies, and now advanced ticket sales, project a viable demand for space tourism. Other markets can complement space tourism, such as zero-g experiments, technology development, and entertainment. The most recently publicized entertainment concept is that of a rocket-racing league.

Designer Burt Rutan, his company Scaled Composites, and its investors won the Ansari X Prize of $10 million with the White Knight and SpaceShipOne vehicles October 4, 2004. That historic event, followed by Richard Branson's investment through Virgin Galactic in a follow-on vehicle, can be considered the most significant harbinger of a safe and reliable commercial space tourism transportation system to date. There are several other entrepreneurs advancing their systems as well.

The regulatory environment for commercial human spaceflight is under development by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Office of Commercial Space Transportation. The Aerospace Corporation, along with two prestigious academic organizations, recently completed a congressionally mandated study through the FAA on key issues associated with regulating this emerging industry (see sidebar, Aerospace Supports the FAA). Of concern is establishing the appropriate balance between the safety of the uninvolved public, the opportunity for the public to partake in potentially dangerous activities, and the freedom needed by this nascent industry to make development possible.

It is a foregone conclusion that at some point, the past half century of technology and experience associated with government spaceflight (both human and robotic), along with the ingenuity, creativity, and persistence of entrepreneurs, will offer the public the opportunity to safely and reliably experience space. The key question is, "When?" Besides the magnificent machines that will provide the transportation, the infrastructure to support a commercial enterprise must be in place to pace the expansion of this emerging industry. That is where spaceport development becomes critical.

Dictionaries provide a much more comprehensive definition of an "airport" than they do a "spaceport." And it is no wonder. For the last decade, enthusiasts, investors, and developers have been trying to figure out just what ground facilities will be needed when commercial spaceflight becomes a reality.

The Rise of Spaceports

During the mid-1990s, NASA and Lockheed Martin began developing a test vehicle called the X-33 that was designed to be a precursor to the VentureStar fully reusable single-stage-to-orbit launch vehicle. In response to the X-33 program and the potentially lucrative VentureStar, many states began developing proposals for spaceports. Many of these spaceport plans did not go beyond the proposal stage, but a few were able to continue—even after the X-33 program was canceled in 2001 because of technology difficulties and cost overruns.

While various states were beginning to develop plans for spaceports to support the VentureStar program, interest was growing among many small companies to develop the space tourism market, beginning with short flights to the edge of space. The idea gained credibility in 1996 with the issuance of the $10 million X Prize. The X Prize was modeled after the Orteig Prize of the 1920s that offered $25,000 to the first person to fly nonstop between New York and Paris. Charles Lindbergh in his aircraft The Spirit of St. Louis won that prize, and helped bolster interest in commercial air travel. The conditions of the X Prize cup were to launch a three-passenger vehicle, twice within two weeks, to an altitude of 60 kilometers (328,000 feet), which is generally considered the boundary of space.

This map of the United States depicts locations identified by individual states for the development of spaceports. In the future, tourists may be able to travel to various space-vacation destinations from these sites.

A suborbital vehicle named SpaceShipOne, developed by Scaled Composites, flew its second flight to 60 kilometers, and won the $10 million X Prize October 4, 2004. Soon after, Scaled Composites announced a joint venture with Richard Branson to develop a follow-on vehicle named SpaceShipTwo to carry up to nine paying customers to space. The new venture was named Virgin Galactic, and would need a spaceport from which to operate.

In addition to the X Prize, multiple space tourism market studies also enhanced interest in this emerging sector. One such study was conducted by Futron Corporation, which forecast that space tourism could generate $700 million annually by the year 2021. An update to this study showed that demand was increasing, and that as many as 25,000 American passengers per year would generate more than $1 billion annually. Futron also predicted that the price of a suborbital flight would drop from the current $200,000 to around $50,000. The analysis included only American passengers, and the global market is expected to be even larger.

In pursuit of winning the X Prize (as well as capturing the space tourism market), a large number of companies began developing suborbital vehicles. In 2002, Aerospace was contracted by the Department of Commerce to survey and characterize the suborbital reusable launch vehicles in development, and to identify current and emerging suborbital market opportunities. The survey was the most extensive at the time, and Aerospace contacted more than 20 companies that were in the process of developing suborbital vehicles. The final report produced by Aerospace, titled "Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Applicable Markets," was published by the Department of Commerce in October 2002.

Texas Aerospace Commission

Many states were vying to construct the launch site for the VentureStar vehicle during the height of its program development. Texas set up the Texas Aerospace Commission to pursue a spaceport in its state. The commission contracted with Aerospace in 1998 to conduct an assessment of 10 candidate sites, and to determine the technical viability and potential competitiveness of each of the sites. During a three-month effort, Aerospace conducted site visits to each of the 10 sites, and evaluated the viability for reusable launch vehicle operations.

The evaluation included an objective analysis of each site's capability of achieving the desired mission orbits, an analysis of the flight mission profiles and flight risks to the general population, an assessment of ascent and reentry operability (including consideration of environmental factors), an assessment of spaceport licensing considerations, and a comparison to other existing and planned U.S. spaceports. Aerospace produced a ranking of the 10 sites and delivered the results to the Texas Aerospace Commission. Aerospace also briefed the representatives of each of the 10 sites on the results and the rankings.

Interest in the Texas legislature for the development of a Texas spaceport waned with the cancellation of the VentureStar program, and many of the sites discontinued their planning activities.

Sample terrestrial RF sensor visualization capability

An artist's concept of a Rocketplane berthing with the International Space Station. The image depicts one of many ideas for a fully reusable space transportation system. Innovative approaches to designing, building, and operating the systems are cropping up in the United States and elsewhere. (Rocketplane Kistler)

The Oklahoma Spaceport

Oklahoma is another state that showed great interest in the VentureStar program. The state established the Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority (OSIDA) for oversight, and focused on developing its spaceport at the Clinton-Sherman Industrial Airpark in Burns Flat, Oklahoma, approximately 100 miles west of Oklahoma City. The site was originally the Clinton-Sherman Airbase, and was built to accommodate B-52 bombers loaded with nuclear bombs during the 1950s and 1960s. The base has a 13,500-foot long, 300-foot wide runway. Oklahoma considered the Clinton-Sherman Industrial Airpark an ideal location for the VentureStar program.

In an effort to expand the use of the Oklahoma Spaceport into the emerging suborbital space tourism marketplace, the Oklahoma legislature also passed SB 55, which authorized the state to award $15 million in transferable tax credits to a qualifying company proposing to build a space plane. The conditions of the bill required that the company have $10 million in initial capital, would create at least 30 jobs, would locate its headquarters in Oklahoma, and could build a space plane.

As with Texas, the cancellation of the VentureStar program had an impact on plans for the Oklahoma Spaceport. Oklahoma, however, chose to continue the development of its spaceport and focus on the emerging suborbital space tourism market. In 2003, the state awarded the transferable tax credits from SB 55 to Rocketplane (now Rocketplane Kistler), one of the entrants to the X Prize. Rocketplane fulfilled the commitment of locating its headquarters in Oklahoma and became the first client of the soon-to-be Oklahoma Spaceport.

The first step in developing a spaceport is to apply to the FAA for a space launch site operator's license, which Oklahoma did in 2003. Since OSIDA was a small organization, it began looking for outside support in developing its spaceport license. OSIDA selected Aerospace for this task, and from 2003 to 2005, Aerospace developed the appropriate documentation for the license. Title 14, Chapter 3, Part 420 of the Code of Federal Regulations outlines in detail the FAA's requirements for a launch site operator license, which include: launch risk analysis, site hazard analysis, explosive site plans, security and access control procedures, FAA and Coast Guard agreements if applicable, lightning protection, accident investigation plans, and emergency response plans.

Aerospace delivered to OSIDA seven final reports outlining these requirements in July 2005, and the documents were then submitted to the FAA as part of the state's license application. After extensive review by the FAA, the Oklahoma Spaceport was granted its operator's license in June 2006.

The operational capability of the Oklahoma Spaceport continues to develop, and the state has requested further assistance from Aerospace. In 2006, Aerospace developed requirements and preliminary layouts for the establishment of an operations center for the spaceport. Aerospace delivered its final report on this task in November 2006. A follow-on task has been requested, and will consist of much more detailed specifications for an operations center for the spaceport and will include the development of equipment, software, and supporting infrastructure specifications.

Spaceport America in New Mexico

Meanwhile, the New Mexico Spaceport Authority was created to develop a spaceport near Upham, New Mexico, approximately 45 miles north of Las Cruces and 30 miles east of Truth or Consequences. This location is along the western boundary of the White Sands Missile Range, and will benefit from the controlled airspace around the missile range. The proposed spaceport will encompass a 27 square mile site, and will include a 13,000 foot runway.

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson announced an agreement with Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic in December 2005, in which Virgin Galactic would be the first permanent tenant of the New Mexico spaceport. The following year, a partnership between New Mexico and Virgin Galactic was announced to develop and build the spaceport, which was officially named Spaceport America. New Mexico planned to fund the $225 million development of its spaceport with $100 million from the state's budget and the remaining $125 million with tax severance bonds voted on by the residents of the three counties surrounding the spaceport location. Two of the three counties passed the tax measure in 2007 and 2008.

"Flight at Dawn," a conceptual image of Spaceport America. (Design by URS/Foster + Partners)

In 2007, the development of Spaceport America began with an award to a team of U.S. and British companies to design the primary terminal and hangar facility. The 100,000 square-foot facility is projected to cost approximately $31 million, and will include the operating facilities for Virgin Galactic, headquarters for the New Mexico Spaceport Authority, and a visitors center. Construction of the spaceport is scheduled to begin in late 2008, with completion planned for late 2009 or early 2010.

With such a short development schedule for its spaceport, New Mexico needed to design, develop, and implement an operational methodology that addresses staffing, policies, procedures, tools, training, and equipment to support full operations. The New Mexico Spaceport Authority in turn contracted with Aerospace for input into developing this top-level operations plan. The plan will contain the steps necessary to achieve operational readiness and a timeline of those steps, identifying their approximate initiation, duration, and sequencing. Aerospace's first task was to develop a preliminary plan to establish the necessary functional capability to support the operations of Spaceport America. The New Mexico Spaceport Authority has also expressed interest in developing a task order agreement with Aerospace in support of the state's development of Spaceport America, and support in developing the application for the FAA launch site operator's license.

The Future of Spaceports

Though the current focus for spaceports is capturing the commercial suborbital market, most believe that the future market is for commercial orbital trips by paying customers. Bigelow Aerospace in Las Vegas, Nevada, is developing one possible destination. Founded by Robert Bigelow, owner of the Budget Suites of America hotels, Bigelow Aerospace is developing commercial orbital complexes, or "space hotels," as a destination for paying customers. Bigelow Aerospace has already launched two test modules for its space hotel. Genesis 1 was launched in July 2006, and Genesis 2 was launched in June 2007. Both are one-third scale test modules for the final version of the Bigelow space hotel. The next module, Sundancer, will be an expandable habitat module that will have the capability to accommodate human visitors, with launch anticipated for 2010.

With the development of its space hotel progressing, Bigelow will require a company to provide the launch services to deliver the visitors to orbit and return them to Earth. To speed up the development of such a vehicle, Bigelow Aerospace has developed its own $50 million prize, similar to the X Prize, called "America's Space Prize."

The prize will go to whoever can build a vehicle capable of taking at least five people to an altitude of 400 kilometers, complete two orbits, and repeat the mission within 60 days. While the first flight need only demonstrate the ability to carry five crew members to the stated height, the winner must take at least five people up on the second flight.

With the suborbital and orbital markets beckoning, there are many spaceports vying to be the Earth departure location. Not only are American states showing interest, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, and Sweden, among others, are beginning to develop spaceports to compete in this emerging global marketplace.