Wednesday / 14 June 2006 | ||
USA State
Space Plans Accelerating. California,
New Mexico and Oklahoma have each advanced their plans
for developing robust state space industries. Tomorrow, an international
agreement will be signed between Andrea Seastrand (Executive Director
of the California Space Authority) and Mayank Patel (representing
the Farnborough Aerospace Consortium) focused on promoting mutual
goals beneficial to space enterprise in California and in the United
Kingdom. According to a 12 June California
Space Authority release, "The ultimate goal of the agreement
is to increase trade and address barriers to space enterprise commerce,
to promote the rapid conversion of innovative research and development
into commercial products and services, and to stimulate, develop
and promote space-related entrepreneurship by conducting joint
events." On Monday, the Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority
(OSIDA) was issued
a launch site operator license from the FAA's
Office of Commercial Space Transportation for its OSIDA-run
spaceport at Clinton-Sherman Industrial Airpark near Burns Flat,
making it just the sixth licensed USA spaceport and only the second
private one (Mojave Airport in California received a license for
its two 2004 SpaceShipOne space
flights). New Mexico (NM), which expects
to have its FAA license in early 2007, has
begun the design process for its Southwest
Regional Spaceport. UP Aerospace plans to make the NM spaceport's
inaugural flight in July, and in October the X Prize Cup will be
held there.
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