British billionaire Richard Branson opened the world's first-ever commercial spaceport in the New Mexico desert, the new home for his company, Virgin Galactic.
The $209 million taxpayer-financed spaceport will be a launch station for people and payloads on the rocket ships being developed for Virgin Galactic.
The building will house Virgin Galactic's spacecraft, mission control and a preparation area for travelers.
The Virgin Group owner hopes that enough powered test flights of the spacecraft can be done by the end of 2012 to start commercial sub-orbital flights from the spaceport soon after.
With custom metal paneling and massive panes of glass, the state-of-the-art terminal rises from the desert floor to face the nearly 2-mile concrete runway.
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