Spaceport America Groundbreaking Delayed

January 3, 2008 at 8:58 am | Posted in Space Law | Leave a comment

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty
The Las Cruces Sun-News reported that ground breaking for Spaceport America will be delayed due to problems with the environmental impact statement (EIS) (hat tip Dick’s Rocket Dungeon and Personal Spaceflight). The EIS is required as part of FAA licensing for a launch facility:

(b) Environmental. An applicant shall provide the FAA with information for the FAA to analyze the environmental impacts associated with the operation of the proposed launch site. The information provided by an applicant must be sufficient to enable the FAA to comply with the requirements of the National Environment Policy Act, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. (NEPA), the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of NEPA, 40 CFR parts 1500-1508, and the FAA’s Procedures for Considering Environmental Impacts, FAA Order 1050.1D. An applicant shall submit environmental information concerning a proposed launch site not covered by existing environmental documentation, and other factors as determined by the FAA. 14 CFR 420.25(b)

The result of this snag is that the groundbreaking for the spaceport will be delayed until November 2008. New Mexico Spaceport Authority Chairwoman Kelly O’Donnell has stated that the Spaceport will still be on track to open in early 2010, though.

UPDATE: Hobbyspace.com is reporting that the originally report was innacurate and that no firm date for the groundbreaking had been chosen.