UAE to get $265 Million Spaceport for Suborbit Flights - WTF?

[Avalux]

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- A day after Space Adventures announced it was in a venture to develop rocket ships for suborbital flights, the company said Friday it plans to build a $265 million spaceport in the United Arab Emirates.

The commercial spaceport would be based in Ras Al-Khaimah near the southern end of the Persian Gulf, and the UAE government has made an initial investment of $30 million, the Arlington, Virginia-based company said in a statement.

The spaceport announcement comes on the heels of Space Adventures' new partnership with an investment firm founded by major sponsors of the Ansari X Prize to develop rocket ships for suborbital flights.

The agreement between Space Adventures and the Texas-based venture capital firm Prodea would help finance suborbital vehicles being designed and built by the Russian aerospace firm Myasishchev Design Bureau.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/02/20/space.tourism.ap/index.html



:banghead:

[threadkillaz]

1. TRP - Terrorists Relocation Program

Its all part of the plan for the war on terror.

Ship them terraists into space.

[MadMaddie]

2. There is the smoking gun...

This report came out after the Port announcement. You pat my back and we will pat yours.

Follow the money....with this group money is always involved.....

There has to be so many violations here it defies logic.....

Why is this not being built in the USA? Why not give the company incentives to build the project in the midwest where we are losing manufacturing jobs every day?

They are selling out the country? For the * Cabal to allow this is TREASON!!!

Impeach, Impeach, Impeach...

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. Because it's a Russian vehicle?

Space Adventures has already sent 3 tourists into space on Russian vehicles. Now they want a specially designed sub-orbital vehicle, and they're sticking with the Russians.

"TREASON!!!" :rofl:

They're going to build one in Singapore too. Is this double treason? Are American companies not allowed to invest abroad anymore?

[MadMaddie]

9. So if this is a fairly new industry......

Are American companies not allowed to invest in the United States anymore?

<snip>
they're sticking with the Russians.
<snip>

Are you saying that America doesn't have the ingenuity to build competing vehicles on American soil?

Why not build it in America? Are you saying that we shouldn't invest in these industries in America? Are you saying that we don't have knowledgeable Americans that could fill the positions?
And what of...


Why not give the companies incentives to promote their businesses here?

When these companies build their companies in foreign countries I suppose that they will avoid paying taxes in the US too.

If this were another time and another place I would not have a problem with companies going abroad, however, this is not the time for companies like this to be built in other countries when we need the businesses here in the United States.

I have an idea....lets support all of the other countries around the world and to hell with America.... wait we are already doing it!!
:banghead:

[enigma000]

10. If private investors and the UAE government put up the money

Why not? I imagine there is a good customer base in the region. Another spaceport in planned in Singapore. I visited their website and found:
Other potential spaceport locations include Asia, specifically Singapore, and North America.

If the demand is there, and I assume it is, spaceports will be built in North America.

on edit, included website: http://www.spaceadventures.com/

[Brotherjohn]

13. Your arguments are all good in the big picture; but what's done is done.

I hate to say it, but YES, "America doesn't have the ingenuity to build competing vehicles on American soil". Yes, "we don't have knowledgeable Americans that could fill the positions".

At least not in the number and quality, and at an affordable rate, that the rest of the world now has.

I think we agree that America SHOULD do these things, and SHOULD be able to provide the ingenuity and expertise to be the world's best at such projects. But, sad to say, the rest of the world is passing us by as we debate intelligent desdign in our schools, cut funding to public education, and cut taxes on large corporations (and ironically still allow them to move overseas in droves).

But the damage is done. Our educational system is no longer the envy of the world, and there ARE cheaper and better places to build such projects. Picking on this one company for building as spaceport outside of the U.S. now is kind of a moot point. The question is now "why WOULD they build it in the States?"

[MadMaddie]

16. Thanks Brotherjohn....

You are right what's done is done.

I guess my frustration is how do we, "Make America Great" again? How do we make America the desirable place to build these companies?

When does country become more important than Political Party?
:kick:

[Brotherjohn]

18. The worst part of it is, I think it all boils down to the educational...

... system.

And to the people who have treated the public education system as a red-headed stepchild (vouchers, ID, etc.), they really think they're doing what's best for the country. A lot of issues, you're right, involve Repubs (and sometimes Dems) supporting an issue in knee-jerk fashion b/c it's the party line. But on education, I think most Republicans (or at least conservatives) really believe the country would improve "if they'd just put prayer back in schools".

You can't reason with that.

[Avalux]

19. Bush was my governor

He ruined our public education system. I don't think he did what he thought was best...seems he and his buddies want to destroy public education, and any sort of federal program that benefits the people. It's as if we are the enemy.

That's why his talk about kids becoming scientists and developing alternative fuel sources made me confused.

[MadMaddie]

20. I was in San Antonio Texas when he was governer...

I saw the results of his non-leadership and his impact on the educational systemand yes you are right it was devastating!

And they are cutting funds to highschool magnet schools that specialize in science and math as we speak.

It becoming more apparant that they are trying to destroy America!!

[Brotherjohn]

21. Yes, I think he wants to ruin public education. So does my guv (Jeb).

But I really think he thinks the country would be better with all private (preferably religious) education.

That's not to make excuses for the guy. That mindset is incredibly dangerous, and harms our country more and more every day.

Didn't the Taliban try that route?

[MadMaddie]

22. So true....

That's the problem I see with the * Cabal....

They have made all of the issues 30 second sound bites and make them sound so simple to resolve...There is no critical thinking involved....thus the complient sheep take their marching orders and repeat the talking points over and over....

When in fact the issues are much more complicated and take critical thought and innovation to fix the issues.

[muriel_volestrangler]

15. There is a competing vehicle built in the USA

From the original link:

Last December, British tycoon Richard Branson announced development of a $225 million spaceport in southern New Mexico, which will be the headquarters of Branson's Virgin Galactic space tourism company.

Virgin Galactic is contracting with Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites to develop a suborbital spaceship based on SpaceShipOne technology.

Flying out of Mojave, California, SpaceShipOne made history on June 21, 2004, as the first privately financed manned rocket to reach space, then made two more flights later that year to win the $10 million Ansari X Prize.

If you want to cut off all US investment abroad, and all foreign investment in the US, go ahead - it's an economic theory that's been out of fashion for over 200 years (apart from in North Korea), but maybe it's time has come again.

[benburch]

3. Sub-Orbital... Like as far as Israel?

And they dinged Bill Clinton for not controlling missile technology. Sheessh!

[Avalux]

4. yep - set up as tourism

Rich people can go to Dubai and pay millions to take a suborbital flight:

Both sides declined to disclose the amount of investment, but Prodea co-founder Hamid Ansari said the firm was fully committed to funding the project.

Arlington, Va.-based Space Adventures is best known for sending three tourists to the orbiting international space station for a reported $20 million a person.

Space Adventures currently has about $3 million in escrow from nearly 200 potential passengers who have paid deposits to fly aboard a yet-to-be-built suborbital vehicle.

Space Adventures' partnership with Texas-based Prodea marks the first time the space tour operator has played a direct role in the development of suborbital spaceships, Anderson said. Suborbital ships go up and come immediately back down.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060217/ap_on_sc/space_tourism

I want to find out more about Hamid Ansari........and what this is really all about. tourism? OK.

[Marie26]

23. Where are they getting the money for all this?

Space flights are exhorbitantly expensive. Tourists aren't going to be able to pay for all that, and they can't even start earning money from tourists for many years. So where are they getting all the money for these huge investments?

[Steve A Play]

5. Suborbital flights = Ballistic Missile Launch Facility

Start calling it what it really is. That will get the people's attention. :evilgrin:

Steven P. :kick:

[Brotherjohn]

7. Don't know why this is surprising. Dubai is ground-zero for mega-tourism.

Frankly, I detect a tinge of pre-conceived notions about Muslims in the repeated references to the idea that this would somehow serve as a missile-launch facility with which to attack Israel (but then I guess I'll be labelled an anti-Semite for saying that).

Looking at what Dubai has been up to lately as far as tourism (below), I'd be surprised if they DIDN'T build a spaceport in the UAE.

On EDIT: It seems the impression here is that the U.S. gov't. has a stake in this. My impression in reading the article is that it's all private investment money and the UAE (the latter likely providing the bulk of it, as the only figure besides the eventual total $256M mentioned is an "initial" investment of $30M by UAE).

Ski Dubai (indoor ski mountain)

http://www.skidubai.ae/

Burj al Arab (World's tallest hotel)

http://www.burj-al-arab.com/

The Palm Islands and The World (manmade island-cities)

http://www.palmsales.ca/

[Avalux]

8. Um, not about that at all.

It's about selling out this country, plain and simple. Our government and the corporations don't give a damn about any of us.

[Brotherjohn]

11. Your post seemed to agree that it's for tourism, at least. Unlike several

... others who seem more concerned about a missile threat to Israel.

As to corporations selling out to other countries, there is a point there. But that may or may not be the case here. We're talking about a venture that would likely be too expensive, and be financially implausible, here in the states (even with government subsidies). Besides, Virgin Galactic is already setting up shop. Let's see if they succeed. And this is small-fry compared to your average GE layoff.

But is the U.S. to be the only country in the world to be allowed to build private spaceports?

[Avalux]

12. No, of course not.

But as it seems to be a common occurence nowadays - our companies are taking their business elsewhere and Americans lose. After digging about the port takeover by Dubai and then reading this - seems as if our government made a deal for corporations and forgot about the terrorism they fling at us every day. Proves to me it's all a sham.

[Brotherjohn]

14. Well, of course, as far as a terror threat... it's a sham. Distracts...

... all of the day-to-day hardships of average Americans, most of which are exacerbated (if not brought on) by our own government. We face so many more very real threats here every day, and they do nothing about them, or make them worse.

[Rosco T.]

17. I hate to be a damper, but that is an GREAT location for a launch facility

near the equator, give a much better place for orbitial/sub-orbital launches.

That's why the sea-launch sat's go off from the equator...

[KamaAina]

24. Not that near the equator, actually

UAE is about 25 degrees north latitude, about the same as Miami, and not nearly as close as the European site in French Guiana (about 5 degrees N).