<\/p>\n
AURORA \u2014 There was a time we would have marveled at flying to 380,000 feet to experience the curvature of the Earth, weightlessness, and the darkness of space.<\/p>\n
In the next few decades, space travel may become so ordinary that we don\u2019t even bat an eye. In Colorado that will be a reality thanks to Dave Ruppel, CEO of the newly-dubbed Spaceport Colorado.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal is to make this more commonplace,\u201d Ruppel said from the Spaceport headquarters. Outside, planes from Denver International Airport, about five miles away, thundered overhead. \u201cThat is reality in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maybe not yet.<\/p>\n
Ruppel, who calls himself a \u201cspace geek,\u201d has taken the small Front Range Airport near Watkins on Aurora\u2019s eastern edge through preliminary approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to become Colorado\u2019s first hub for space tourism and the 11th in the nation.<\/p>\n
In the next decade, the airport cum spaceport will count down to launching spacecrafts from the likes of Virgin Galactic, Airbus, and Reaction Engines to carry commuters and thrill seekers.<\/p>\n
The FAA\u2019s green light allows for ships that will takeoff like normal planes and fly east, away from the metroplex, but quickly climb to altitudes of 50,000 feet \u2014 about 14,000 feet higher than current commercial planes.<\/p>\n
Then, planes engage rocket engines and soar as high as 380,000 feet, into the darkness.<\/p>\n
At that point, passengers could begin to float out of their seats.<\/p>\n
These hybrid-plane-rockets would not only fly high, but fast. A 17-hour flight to Tokyo could be reduced to 90 minutes when it\u2019s all said and done \u2014 the time it takes to finish \u201cLost in Space.\u201d Or, you could take the trip into the Earth\u2019s orbit just for fun before dramatically re-entering the atmosphere.<\/p>\n
The details are still up in the air as aerospace companies develop suborbital flight technology, although there are several prototypes and plenty of concepts for horizontal takeoff space-planes. UK-based Reaction Engines, which works out of a Castle Rock office for U.S. operations, is already testing their technology at Spaceport Colorado.<\/p>\n
Adam Dissel, president of Reaction Engines Inc., said the company put a couple of million dollars into a testing site on the edge of the airport for an air pre-cooler on a military jet engine. The goal is that the part would be on a Sabre engine that allows planes to move at rocket speeds. But because no aircraft can fly that fast yet, Dissel said, the company is recreating that scenario on the ground at Spaceport Colorado.<\/p>\n
For right now, there\u2019s no immediate change the spaceport designation will bring for Reaction Engines. But that could all change.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the further term, our technology would enable horizontal spacecraft to launch,\u201d Dissel said.<\/p>\n
Any prototype flying out of the spaceport would have to be approved by the FAA before taking off from Watkins. The industry is so emerging, that when the FAA conducted its environmental impact study before granting the spaceport\u2019s license, authorities studied the impact of a hypothetical \u201cobjective space object.\u201d There are no prototypes currently on the table. When an aircraft is chosen, the study will have to be adapted to that particular space-plane.<\/p>\n
Rocket-like ships, such as the Blue Origin New Shepard, are off the table for now. That\u2019s because of the potential for debris to fall from crafts and the sheer amount of energy required to vertically lift a sizable payload that would include space tourists.<\/p>\n
Ruppel said the goal is to get everything squared away for the rocket-boosted planes.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a lot of potential for a small stretch of tarmac in rural Colorado.<\/p>\n
The spaceport is also slated to boost Colorado\u2019s growing aerospace industry \u2014 which is already a big contributor to the economy in Aurora and the metro region. There\u2019s more than 400 aerospace firms in the state, according to data from the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade. That equates to about 163,000 existing employees and a $3.2 billion payroll, making Colorado the largest space economy in the U.S. in 2013, according to the most recent statistics available.<\/p>\n
Gov. John Hickenlooper\u2019s office said the designation of the spaceport could help bring 200,000 new jobs to the state, though it\u2019s not clear what all those jobs would entail. A lot of them could be in software development, said Jay Lindell, an aerospace and defense industry specialist at COEDIT.<\/p>\n
Space travel is still many years off, he said. But getting there is going to mean a lot of programming and technological work.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want the message to be that Colorado is open for business,\u201d Lindell said. \u201cWhat\u2019s important is that we are open for all of the development. We\u2019re years away but that technology is advancing rapidly. Someday we will have commercial capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n
How many years until tickets are available? You can book a flight on Virgin Galactic now, but it\u2019s not scheduled for takeoff. Principals don\u2019t want to commit to a time frame, but talk is about years not decades.<\/p>\n
John Barry, CEO of aviation museum Wings Over the Rockies, wants to take that development a step further and establish Colorado as an \u201caerospace alley\u201d akin to Silicon Valley\u2019s reputation for tech.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s a former combat pilot and a graduate of the Navy\u2019s TOPGUN fighter pilot program.<\/p>\n
Along with the strong employment figures, Colorado is also home to several military space command centers. Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora hosts the 460th Space Wing division, and two other Space Wing groups are based in the state.<\/p>\n
Plus, all major aerospace companies have a presence here \u2014 except for SpaceX, according to Barry.<\/p>\n
The location of the spaceport is also ideal for commercial capabilities. Being located six miles away from DIA is important, Lindell said, as is being at a halfway point between the east coast and west coast.<\/p>\n
Sitting at more than 5,000 feet above sea level doesn\u2019t hurt either. It\u2019s great for marketing, too. Any conversation about the spaceport inevitably includes the phrase, \u201cIn Colorado, the first mile to space is free.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople always laugh when you say this, but we\u2019re a mile closer to space,\u201d Barry said. \u201cAnd the toughest part is getting out to space.\u201d<\/p>\n
Any business that wants to neighbor the spaceport will call Aurora home. The city annexed most of the land surrounding the Front Range Airport years ago. At a recent city council study session, Councilman Dave Gruber said identifying the spaceport \u201cjust outside Denver\u201d would probably be more accurate as \u201cjust inside Aurora.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adams County did a lot of the heavy lifting to get the spaceport designation. County Manager Raymond Gonzales said in a statement about the designation there are huge developments in store for the nearly 10,000 acres surrounding the airport.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen combined with other developments planned for the area, this part of Adams County is poised to become a major international commercial hub,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Gruber and other local leaders see that vision, too. Currently, they\u2019re working on a vision statement for Spaceport City, which Gruber describes as potentially being similar to the Lockheed Martin Waterton Canyon campus in Littleton.<\/p>\n
Transportation including rail, I-70 and DIA make that location near Front Range Airport attractive, Gruber said. The city will have to look at zoning and getting water out to the region \u2014 that\u2019d be after the vision statement, which is slated for completion within the next six months, Gruber said.<\/p>\n
But all that development looks to be even further off in the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want to get too far ahead of ourselves,\u201d he said. \u201cDesignation doesn\u2019t mean people will be flocking to us right away. Commercial space is such a new enterprise that there\u2019s a big question on profitability. We don\u2019t want to get too excited or get too hyped. But based on zoning, we won\u2019t limit what could be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruppel is optimistic about working with aerospace companies and developers to build a new era in Colorado\u2019s economy. However, he\u2019s cautious about \u201cdeveloping haphazardly,\u201d and instead prioritizes planning.<\/p>\n
Aside from the FAA permitting process, which lasted for about six years, not much work is needed to allow for space planes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s good for the airport is good for the spaceport and vice versa,\u201d Ruppel says. He hopes to build more aircraft hangars, taxiways, and tarmac or otherwise improve the existing infrastructure, which can be used for space and air flight.<\/p>\n
Ruppel also envisions futuristic headquarters for Spaceport Colorado, and has offered renderings of what the new building could look like.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be an iconic building that captures people\u2019s imaginations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Such a building would certainly stand out from the gravel roads, cattle ranching, and oil and gas wells that surround the spaceport.<\/p>\n
However, no changes will likely be made overnight. Ruppel stressed that the spaceport is run just like any other business and won\u2019t be developing dramatically until more clients fly out of Watkins.<\/p>\n
The FAA will also have to OK the space planes before they can be based in spaceport hangars. That will bring another round of environmental and safety analysis and a period of public comment that could prevent any space tourism or travel in Colorado.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs with anything that is new like that, there\u2019s going to be resistance to it because people don\u2019t really understand it,\u201d Ruppel said. \u201cIt either seems crazy, like it\u2019s science fiction, or it seems scary because it\u2019s an unknown.\u201d<\/p>\n
Space travel has opened the imaginations of Americans for decades. Ruppel said he\u2019d jump at the opportunity to take a flight to space one day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d love to take one \u2014 though I don\u2019t think I have an extra $250,000 laying around,\u201d Ruppel said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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