Qa'dah 15, 1431, Oct 23, 2010, SPA -- Virgin Galactic's Sir Richard Branson, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, and prospective astronauts gathered in the southern New Mexico desert Friday to celebrate the completion of the runway at the world's first purpose-built commercial spaceport. Spaceport America is the world's first facility designed specifically to launch commercial spacecraft. The celebration of its nearly-three-kilometer-long runway comes less than two weeks after Virgin Galactic launched its first solo glide flight of its space tourism rocket ship. Branson called Friday an emotional and historic day and said he expects flights for space tourists to begin in nine to 18 months, adding that he will be among the first passengers. Tickets for suborbital space rides aboard Spaceship Two cost $200,000. The two-and-a-half-hour flights will include about five minutes of weightlessness, and about 380 customers have already made deposits totaling over $50 million, Virgin Galactic officials said Friday.
