Should Kona International Airport host Hawaii’s first commercial space flights?
That’s a question that could be brought before Big Island residents around the new year following the completion of a draft environmental assessment for a proposed spaceport certification.
The environmental review is needed before the state applies for a launch site operator license with the Federal Aviation Administration. If approved, space tourism companies would then be able to apply for their own individual licenses to use the airport.
The flights would take wealthy passengers into suborbit where they can experience weightlessness.
Jim Crisafulli, state Office of Aerospace Development director, said he anticipates public meetings regarding the findings of the review to be held in Kailua-Kona early next year, possibly in January.
The state could apply for the license within six months after the document is finalized, assuming a finding of no significant impact, he said.
While space tourism is still in its infancy, Crisafulli said most commercial spaceplane designs allow them to launch like any commercial jet before igniting rockets to take passengers into suborbit.
“They are like any other plane taking off,” he said. “The difference is when they are flying away from the island, at 40,000 to 50,000 feet, then the planes fire rockets, and that rocket takes the plane upward very quickly.”
But there is an exception. Crisafulli said one type of spaceplane that could be used relies on rocket engines to take off.
“That will entail more noise,” he said. “It’s being looked at in the EA.”
New airport infrastructure would include a “hangar, apron, concrete pad for loading oxidizer and an associated taxiway, vehicle parking area, and FAA-approved fencing,” according to the FAA.
The flights would generate sonic booms off the West Hawaii coast, though a recent consultation letter from the FAA suggests it’s unlikely it will be heard on the island.
The letter was sent Oct. 7 to 38 Native Hawaiian organizations and individuals seeking feedback on cultural and archaeological concerns associated with the certification.
It outlines use of three different aircraft, two of which would generate sonic booms on re-entry about 60 miles from shore at 80,000 feet above the ocean, with another generating them as close as 20 miles to the island at an altitude of 300,000 feet.
“The sonic booms would impact the water surface of the Pacific Ocean and would not be expected to be heard on land,” the letter says.
Up to 50 space flights could occur each year, according to the letter. Crisafulli expects the industry would start much smaller than that.
He anticipates flights would begin in 2017.
Previously, Crisafulli said flights could begin as early as this year. He said the EA process is taking longer than initially anticipated.
“They are trying to be as detailed and careful as possible,” Crisafulli said.
The Kona airport would join 10 other locations that hold active launch site operator licenses, according to a list on the FAA’s website.
Crisafulli said it would tie in well with the tourism market on the island. In the long term, the airport could also be used to take payloads into space.
“We have a number of advantages that are really striking,” he said, noting the existing tourism industry, and other factors, such as Hawaii not being landlocked.
“Hawaii by virtue of all these factors is very well positioned to support space tourism.”
So far, the state has signed nondisclosure agreements with two companies that are interested in launching space flights from Kona, Crisafulli said.
While he couldn’t say who they are, he said they are “very well known and will be launching from other spaceports, like Spaceport America in New Mexico.”
That likely includes Virgin Galactic, launched by Virgin Group Founder Richard Bronson.
On Monday, Bronson landed in Honolulu during an inaugural flight from San Francisco on his Virgin America airline.
The company, also offering flights to Maui in December, expects to eventually expand flights from San Francisco to other neighbor islands, according to Pacific Business News.
Virgin Galactic faced tragedy last year when its SpaceShipTwo spaceplane broke apart during a test flight, killing a pilot.
The company is trying to rebound and is building a new spaceliner, according to Space.com.
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.