The government of Ras al-Khaimah (RAK) unveiled on 17 February an ambitious plan to develop a commercial spaceport in the emirate. The project will be carried out in conjunction with the US' Space Adventures, which until now has been the only company to launch tourism flights into space. The spaceport, which is still in its conceptual stage, would initially comprise a hangar and a visitor centre with a total built-up area of about 20,000 square metres. 'We are only now talking about suborbital flights, so it will be a flight plus a training package that may take about a week and include various training and screening elements to prepare for flight,' Sheikh Salem bin Sultan al-Qasimi, chairman of RAK's Department of Civil Aviation, told MEED on 21 February.