Virgin Spaceport Images

Foster and Partners have unveiled new images of the first private spaceport,Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic venture, housing a spaceship hangar and astronaut terminal control room in New Mexico, USA .

The Virgin Galactic space-tourism fleet will operate from the new "Spaceport America" rocketport being purpose-built for it courtesy of the New Mexico state government (Virgin will lease the facility). It had originally been hoped that flights would commence in 2007, but there were long delays after a rocket explosion at the Mojave plant of Scaled Composites, the company building the spacecraft. Virgin now says it will start operations in 2010.

Wealthy passengers paying $200k each will enjoy a genuine trip into space complete with weightlessness. However, SpaceShipTwos and their like can't achieve orbital velocity: they merely fling themselves up out of the atmosphere ballistically before inevitably falling back in.

Spaceport Designs Revealed

A US-British team of URS Corporation and Foster & Partners have revealed plans for a 10,000 square-metre hangar that will be part of the world's first port built specifically for commercial space travel.

The world's first purpose-built commercial spaceport will be built in Las Cruces, New Mexico and should be finished in 2010. Work will start on the £15million terminal next year. It will be home to Virgin Galactic's fleet of spaceships, which start test flights in a few months.

There will also be training facilities for all the would-be orbiters, who have to spend three days getting ready for their trip. The structure will be dug into the New Mexico desert, so it is sheltered from the extreme climate and can harness wind for ventilation.A tunnel leads to a gallery, where passengers can gaze at the spaceships before going into the main terminal. Natural light shines through skylights, the roof is a rolling concrete shell and there is a glass platform with views of the runway.

Lord Norman Foster, the architect behind London's City Hall and the Gherkin, is one of the designers of the ambitious project.

He said: 'We are absolutely thrilled to be part of the team. This technically complex building will provide a dramatic experience for astronauts and visitors.'