Virgin Galactic opens its hangar doors at the world's first commercial space airport

With the completion of these two floors, the company's Spaceport America facility is now operationally operational and ready to support flight requirements.

The images were shared Thursday by Virgin Group and show the interior of the two-story Gateway to Space building, incorporated into Spaceport America, the first space airport built for tourist travel. 

The base is located in New Mexico, in the United States of America.

Committed to staying true to the tradition of “inspiring” design, one of Virgin Group's brands, created by British billionaire Richard Branson, Virgin Galatic has chosen an elegant, experience-focused concept for its space launch system itself.

“The Foster + Partners Gateway to Space installation is a tribute to the past, in a respect for the old surrounding landscape, while embracing the future with energy efficiency and sustainability,” read the company's publication.

On the other hand, it's also designed specifically to enable Virgin Galactic to create an “unparalleled” experience as its customers prepare for lifelong travel before they graduate as astronauts.

Designated by Gaia, the first floor is focused on planet Earth, representing the starting and returning point as well as the purpose of each astronaut's journey. Therefore, natural colors and materials were specifically chosen. The floor design that hosts space operations teams, future astronauts, and families and friends, such as furniture and accessories, is intended to foster dialogue and social interaction. While the high, interactive digital pass-through wants to make the take-off experience for future astronauts, friends and family more real as they leave Spacesport for VSS Unit on the day of flight.

Here, future astronauts will share breakfast with the spacecraft pilots, have coffee with the engineers, and spend the time of day with the Mission Control team.

The second floor was dubbed Cirrus, representing light, air and flight. “It's the heart of space flight operations” and is linked to the Gaia floor. This time, the color palette features lighter shades of white and gray, reflecting the sky and what remains to be found, providing an environment that supports operational focus. This area houses mission control, the mission instruction room, the pilot team, and the rest of the flight operations team.

The inauguration of Gaia and Cirrus means Spaceport's Gateway to Space America It is now operational, ready to receive the remaining part of Virgin Galactic's testing program before receiving its first future astronauts.

This inauguration comes just as Virgin Galactic says it is “closer to starting commercial service” after the mothership Eve landed at Spaceport America. The company made the decision to move space operations to the base after two successful space flights , which formed five new commercial astronauts.

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