Spaceport California
Bill seeks loan for spaceport in south stateBy Judy Lin -- Bee Capitol Bureau
Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, May 7, 2006
Story appeared on Page A3 of The Bee
When SpaceShipOne became the first private manned spacecraft to leave the Earth's atmosphere two summers ago, the pioneering flight happened over the Mojave Desert, chalking up another aeronautical milestone for the Golden State.
But when the achievement sparked talk of building spaceports from which these rocket planes can one day take off and land, California soon found friendly competition from other states. New Mexico, in particular, also saw dollar signs and jobs in the nascent space tourism industry.
In order to woo entrepreneurs like Virgin billionaire Richard Branson who are seeking to bring space travel to the masses - or at least initially to those with $200,000 lying around - industry officials believe states will need to build an infrastructure to support it.
On Monday, the Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to debate a bill giving the Mojave Spaceport an $11 million loan for the construction of two buildings - one for a terminal and the other for a research facility.
Backers say the loan is small compared to what other states are spending but would help keep leading space firms like Scaled Composites, which built SpaceShipOne, in California.
With no guarantees that the loan will be repaid, California lawmakers will have to decide whether it is worth backing a risky, for-profit endeavor. A committee analysis has questioned whether a state general fund-backed loan is the best use of public dollars, especially when someone like Branson might become a tenant through his commercial space tourism enterprise, Virgin Galactic. ….
(Excerpt from the Sacramento Bee)
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According to Star Trek lore, San Francisco will one day become headquarters of Starfleet, the defense and exploration arm of the U.N.-in-space come the future. So maybe the Legislature is just trying to get a head start on this.
I’m a really big fan of space travel and space exploration. I faked tummy aches to stay home and watch the Gemini and Apollo launches as a kid. I support a broad expansion of our manned spaceflight program. I favor the creation of an international space agency to coordinate the effort. I believe that China has no need to go to the moon. We’ve already been there and tell them all they need to know about what they’re going to find.
Private spaceflight, however, is a toy of the rich and we don’t need to subsidize it in any way.
The only possible public benefit is the development of a sub-orbital plane capable of shortening flights from hemisphere to hemisphere. But even that’s a nice idea without a real need demonstrated. Few Americans insisted on taking the Concorde to Europe and back.
If the rich want to fly around space because it’s fun, let them, and let them pay for it. Party on, dudes.
I suppose this is the sort of thing we can expect from the state where vision of the future rules. This is the downside. As someone once wrote about maverick Oakland A’s owner Charlie Finley, who proposed the designated hitter, three balls walks and orange baseballs, “the price for every great idea is two kooky ones.”
Legislature, please beam this bill and loan outta here. We’ve got more down-to-earth issues to deal with.
posted by Terry Preston @ 6:01 PM
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