VIRGIN GALACTIC/SPACEPORT AMERICA/FOSTER + PARTNERS / 2006-2012
In 2005, Virgin Galactic and the State of New Mexico announced that they had reached an historic agreement which would see the building of a state funded $200m spaceport on a 27 square mile area of land in the southern part of the New Mexico "the Land of Enchantment".
Virgin Galactic will establish its headquarters and operate its space flights from Spaceport America, the world's first purpose built commercial spaceport which is now under construction. Spaceport America will provide cutting edge facilities and a wonderful location for fledgling astronauts to realise their dreams. Construction is now well under way and the New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) recently dedicated the newly completed nearly two-mile long "Governor Bill Richardson Spaceway" at Spaceport America, representing significant progress towards launching commercial customers into space from the desert of New Mexico.
The facility has been designed by world renowned, UK based Foster + Partners who won an international competition to build the first private spaceport in the world. The Spaceport lies low within the desert-like landscape of the site in New Mexico and seen from the historic El Camino Real trail, the organic form of the terminal resembles a rise in the landscape. Using local materials and regional construction techniques, it is both sustainable and sensitive to its surroundings.
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