O’Donnell said that once the federal government grants the permits, construction can begin quickly, because the authority has the $200 million it needs from the state and county governments.

Will Whitehorn, president of Virgin Galactic, founded by entrepreneur-adventurer Richard Branson, said the company’s mother ship (made of super-light carbon-composite metal) will make its first test flight in late summer. The company is working with the Federal Aviation Administration on safety and other issues, and the process is going well, he said. “But we can’t say exactly when everything will be settled, because, well, this has never been done before,” Whitehorn said. The company is negotiating a long-term lease at the spaceport, which will be its international headquarters.

“We’re in the very early stage of creating a new kind of air transport system,” said Steven Landeene, executive director of the New Mexico spaceport. “Space tourism is the first phase, along with the commercial launching of satellites and spacecraft that can carry cargo and even astronauts to the international space.”

That future is still in the far distance. What New Mexico officials are working on now is persuading its citizens and the federal government that the spaceport will not harm the environment.