Crazy growth going to be generated from this one "spaceport".
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Prepare for liftoff: Houston approved for spaceport (Video)
Jun 30, 2015, 11:26am CDT
Olivia Pulsinelli
Houston Business Journal
The Federal Aviation Administration granted a launch site license to make Ellington Airport the 10th commercial spaceport in the U.S., theHouston Airport System announced June 30.
Now, HAS can turn its attention to establishing the required infrastructure and support facilities needed to accommodate reusable launch vehicles, which will launch horizontally like commercial aircraft, rather than vertically.
HAS started aggressively moving forward with its spaceport plans two years ago, when the Houston City Council approved a $718,000 contract for a consulting firm to study how Ellington Airport can obtain a spaceport launch site operator’s license. However, HAS has looked into developing a spaceport in Houston since early 2011.
“Houston will play a lead role in commercial space operations in the 21st century,” Houston MayorAnnise Parker said in a statement. “We believe a licensed spaceport in Houston will not only serve as an economic generator for the city but also enhance Houston’s well-deserved reputation as a leader and key player in the aerospace industry.”
Meanwhile, NASA's Johnson Space Center also plans to have a significant role in the future of commercial spaceflight, JSC Deputy Director Kirk Shireman told the Houston Business Journal recently.
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An out-of-this-world concept: Houston Spaceport will take Bay Area to new heights | Community Impact Newspaper
Ellington has remained a military airport because the Houston Airport System already has two international airports: the George Bush Intercontinental and Hobby airports, Fress said.
“There never was any vision for Ellington to compete with ourselves,” he said.
When NASA announced its vision for deeper space exploration and commercial aerospace companies started to surface, airport system officials realized Ellington’s potential, and the spaceport was born, Fress said.
BAHEP got involved as well and pushed for the spaceport’s creation.
“I think it’s very important that the Houston Airport System has looked beyond and created this vision of what the future’s gonna be for commercial air travel,” Mitchell said. “Imagine what you can do with 300 acres.”
LONG-TERM GOALS
Years from now the Houston Spaceport will be more than a concentrated center for commercial aerospace companies; the spaceport will be the launch site for commercial flights that will take residents to domestic and international destinations at supersonic speeds, Mitchell and Fress said.
Residents will be able to fly to New York City in 50 minutes. Flying to London will take two hours. A nonstop flight to Australia will take four hours, officials said.
“They are designing and developing these aircraft today, as we speak,” Mitchell said.
It is illegal to fly at supersonic speeds over the United States because of the loud, damaging sonic boom jets make when reaching such speeds. Engineers are designing aircraft capable of creating a “low boom” that would allow for supersonic travel over land, and it will soon be tested out of Ellington.
This fall jets will take off from Ellington Airport, fly over the Gulf of Mexico and reach supersonic speeds. Officials are curious if residents will be able to hear the low boom, Mitchell said.
“They’re not making a big issue out of it because they want to get good, honest public input,” he said.
Commercial space companies will use the same concept to launch space vehicles from the Houston Spaceport that would be capable of reaching sub- or low-orbit heights, including the International Space Station.
The Houston Spaceport is not licensed for vertical launches, so space vehicles will instead launch horizontally, go over the Gulf of Mexico and then rocket off vertically to reach space, officials said.
Spaceport officials in 2015 signed a deal with Sierra Nevada Corp., which is developing the Dream Chaser, a space vehicle that will deliver cargo and crew to the International Space Station. The deal will allow the Houston Spaceport to be one of the sites the Dream Chaser can return to after launching from another location, officials said.
Potential plans for the spaceport include retail areas and hotels.
“When you work a project this big, it doesn’t happen overnight,” Mitchell said. “But the reality is it’s going to happen.”
