Seattle-based manned suborbital commercial spaceflight venture Blue Origin plans to build a test and operations centre north of Van Horn in Texas.
The site will be used for engine and vehicle testing, and possibly flight operations, says billionaire Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos in an interview with the Van Horn Advocate newspaper.
Amazon.com founder and chief executive Bezos says that initial facilities will comprise an engine test stand, storage tanks for fuel and water and a general-purpose building. He adds that flights could start within seven years.
Blue Origin is developing a suborbital space vehicle that will take off and land vertically, and carry three or more astronauts to the edge of space. The company has assembled a team of engineers that boast experience on several other private space ventures, as well as veterans of the Space Shuttle programme and the US national missile defence project.
Bezos says Blue Origin has contacted the US Federal Aviation Administration to discuss its plans.
Source: Flight International
