The space race has been on since the 1960s and is still going strong. The latest proverbial finish line concerns space tourism and who can send private citizens into outer space. Spaceport America, near Truth or Consequences, entered the competition in 2011 and has been trying to keep up.
Virgin Galactic, a major tenant of the $219 million, 18,000-acre facility, calls it the “gateway to space” on its website. Spaceport was initially built as a launch site for Virgin’s commercial space rockets. But…