Spacecraft developer, Houston partner on spaceport

HOUSTON (AP) — The private developer of a winged spacecraft concept called the Dream Chaser is partnering with the city of Houston on a proposed project to renovate historic Ellington Field into a spaceport.

The partnership between the Houston Airport System and Sparks, Nev.-based Sierra Nevada Corp. was announced Thursday.

Sierra Nevada is one of the companies NASA asked to develop the company’s Dream Chaser spacecraft, capable of landing at the spaceport from low-Earth orbit.

Ellington Field was built as an Army flying school in 1917 and served as an Army Air Corps, Air Force, NASA and Texas Air National Guard base until the city of Houston bought it in 1984 and opened it to general aviation. The field is situated six miles northwest of NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

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