Dutch initiative SpaceLinq announced Friday that it will be Europe's first spaceflight operator from within Holland at the Lelystad Airport. The airport is the proposed home base for the future EU Spaceport Lelystad, as long as all regulation and approval from the government and Airport partners are granted. Space businessman Chuck Lauer, US co-founder of SpaceLinq, says, "We choose Lelystad for its location next to the sea and close proximity to the North Sea military reserve airspace. Besides, the open space and available land, plus the desire of the community to encourage new technology and industry are other reasons to choose Lelystad as SpaceLinq`s domicile. Also important to choose Holland is the fact that the European spaceflight market may be the largest in the world, and the Amsterdam region is already one of the greatest tourist destinations on the planet."
The first flights from the proposed spaceport are expected in 2015. The SpaceLinq spaceliner vehicle will seat one pilot plus five customers when flying space tourism flights. For research purposes the four rear seats are removed and replaced with experiment racks or other payloads, while leaving the front right seat in place for payload operators or researchers to fly and operate their experiments, reports SpaceRef.com.
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