The Milky Way seen from Reddington Pass east of Tucson. May 2022
Virgin Galactic has selected the Phoenix suburb of Mesa as the site where it will assemble its next class of rocket ships.
Officials with the aerospace and space travel company say they have signed a long-term lease for a new final assembly manufacturing facility adjacent to the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.
They say the facility will be capable of producing up to six spaceships per year and bring hundreds of aerospace engineering and manufacturing jobs to Mesa.
Virgin Galactic officials say the Delta class suborbital spaceplanes will be designed to fly weekly, supporting the company’s target of 400 flights annually from Spaceport America in New Mexico.
The first of the spaceships is expected to start payload flights in late 2025 with private astronaut flights in 2026.
By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.