Las Vegas Spaceport
- Real estate developer Rob Lauer hopes to build a commercial spaceport in Nevada.
- Investors will pledge $10 million toward the project if it's approved.
- The first step is establishing the Las Vegas Executive Airport.
Nevada could be the new frontier for space tourism.
At least, that's what real estate developer Rob Lauer envisions with his plans to build a spaceport near Las Vegas. Lauer, a former US Army military police officer, is the CEO of Las Vegas Spaceport.
"Ten years from now, tours will be coming here to the Las Vegas Spaceport and boarding a space plane for their journey," he said in a YouTube video for investors. "Perhaps to a hotel in space. Perhaps to the moon. Or even, perhaps, to Mars."
Las Vegas Spaceport would be intended for commercial and private space tourism.
The company's 240-acre development site is a 15-minute helicopter ride from the Las Vegas Strip, which centers the city's thriving tourism industry.
The city recently embraced Formula 1, which generated $1.5 billion for the local economy in 2023, according to The Las Vegas Review-Journal. A report from Billboard said the Sphere in Las Vegas earned $170 million in third-quarter revenue.
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The FAA's website lists 20 spaceport and launch and reentry sites in the United States, including SpaceX's Boca Chica facility, but none in Nevada. The list includes FAA-licensed, non-FAA-licensed, and US federal sites.
Introducing a spaceport could entice more tourists to spend time in the area, which, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, saw 40 million visitors in 2023.
But the endeavor can be quite costly. The first seat on New Shephard, a spacecraft from Jeff Bezos' Blue Origins, auctioned for $28 million in 2021.
The spaceport would offer educational programs for potential flyers and a STEM program
Las Vegas Spaceport
Space tourism is more popular than ever.
SpaceX, Elon Musk's astronautics company, successfully launched its first all-tourist flight to orbit in 2021. Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic completed its first space tourism mission in 2023.
And Blue Origin launched six tourists to the edge of space in May. The aerospace company previously sent four commercial astronauts to space in 2021.
Although space tourism is gaining traction, especially with billionaires, it's still out of reach for the everyday traveler.
Las Vegas Spaceport wants to make traveling to the stars more accessible. The spaceport would offer civilian space flight acclimation training and a post-high school STEM academy where students can access flight simulators.
The company also plans to construct a hotel, passenger terminal, rooftop observation deck, and restaurant at the spaceport.
As smaller companies like Las Vegas Spaceport look to enter the industry, some travelers are already excited to take flight.
A 2023 Pew Research Center survey found that 35% of respondents would be interested in orbiting Earth in a spacecraft.
The survey also said 55% of respondents believed people would "routinely travel" as space tourists in the next 50 years.
But first, Lauer wants to develop an airport
Before erecting rocket pads and passenger hubs, the company is focused on phase one: securing official approval for The Las Vegas Executive Airport.
Las Vegas Spaceport scored a win in May when the Clark County Commission "unanimously" approved construction permits for an airstrip, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Clark County officials told Business Insider that Las Vegas Spaceport applied for airstrip approval near Nye County.
"Although the application initially included reference to 'spacecraft' and 'spaceport,' those references were removed from the conditions at the time of approval of the application because the application was only for an airstrip," the statement said. "The County's granting of the application was conditioned upon approval of the FAA for the airstrip."
The FAA told BI it received a proposal for an airport from Las Vegas Spaceport.
"After a thorough review, the FAA determined that the proposed Las Vegas Executive Airport would not affect the safety or efficiency of the surrounding airspace," the statement read.
The FAA added that although the review found the airport wouldn't disrupt airspace, it "does not constitute an approval of the single-runway airport."
Still, Lauer considered the FAA's review a necessary step toward reaching his ambitions, saying it is a "significant milestone in the journey toward realizing the Las Vegas Spaceport" in a statement to BI.
"This landmark decision paves the way for the next phase of this ambitious project, which is set to revolutionize space travel and tourism in Southern Nevada," he said.
The statement added that the project had secured $10 million in pledges from investors, contingent on the FAA and Clark County approval.
The company could start construction on the airport in three months.