Starchaser Industries Inc. has announced plans to develop a 120-acre site approximately seventeen miles west of the City of Las Cruces in southern New Mexico – nearby home to the Southwest Regional Spaceport.

Starchaser’s Rocket City complex is a ten-year $100 million project and is to be privately financed, explains Steve Bennett, Chief Executive Officer of the group. Phased development of the site will include rocket manufacturing and astronaut training facilities, retail outlets, office accommodations, restaurants and exhibition areas as well as a space-themed hotel with conference facilities.

Rocket City will offer “behind the scene tours” of a working rocket assembly and manufacturing plant. Visitors will be able to purchase advance tickets for rides into space aboard Starchaser’s Thunderstar rocketship and become familiar with the technology used to make spaceflight possible.

The site was picked based on the results of a two-year, $50,000 study, overseen by Starchaser staff stationed in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Starchaser Industries is currently working on two major rocket projects: the Skybolt reusable sounding rocket for science payloads and the Thunderstar space tourism vehicle that will launch ticket-holding passengers more than 62 miles (100 kilometers) into space.