Airport chief: Ellington spaceport 'definitely doable'

With its goal of "going global" all but achieved, the Houston Airport System says it is now time to go extraterrestrial.

Director Mario Diaz on Wednesday said the system is officially moving forward with a plan to turn Ellington Airport into one of the nation's first spaceports and is seeking certification from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The system completed a feasibility study last year that found it would cost an estimated $48 million to $122 million to equip Ellington for launching small space vehicles full of joyriders out over the Gulf of Mexico, more than 60 miles above Earth.

"It is definitely doable because, you see, space is not the final frontier, it just happens to be our next destination," Diaz said told business leaders in a State of the Airports speech hosted by the Greater Houston Partnership.

3 hours to Singapore?

Diaz, who has been talking about the concept since at least 2011, said the system could get Ellington licensed in 15 to 18 months.

"And what exactly do we have in mind? Well, I would start off by assuring the community we are not interested in vertical, heavy lift rockets," Diaz said. "What we do mean is to create an environment where a cluster of aviation and aerospace companies can flourish and where Houston can again step forward to lead the nation in the transition from a federal to a commercial space program."

He cited not only the establishment of space tourism in Houston, but also manufacturing the "small reusable space vehicles" that companies like Virgin Galactic are planning to use to launch everyday people into outer space.

"We will create facilities where companies can integrate all of the new and exciting advances in aeronautical engineering to produce spacecraft" that could feasibly "connect Houston in the future with places like Singapore in under three hours."

'A blurring of lines'

After his speech, Diaz told reporters that commercial space travel is simply the next step in the evolution of aviation, and that the airport system intends to capitalize on it and is already in talks with some companies.

"There will be a blurring of the lines soon between 'What is an airplane?' and 'What is a spacecraft?' because we are destined to move into space," Diaz said. "By the end of the 21st century, I believe that we will be well out into the solar system. It's just a matter of time, it's just a matter of creativity, imagination and I think we'll be there."

Consultants say there is substantial interest among cities in commercial space travel as a new means of economic development, although Houston officials expressed some reservations last year when Diaz also mentioned the plan in his State of the Airports speech.

Asked about economic viability, Diaz said of the project may not "initially" be profitable, but he believes it would become so - just as airports went from operating in the red to operating in the black with the rise of commercial air travel.

"I can assure you most airports today do break even," Diaz said.