BIG THINGS PLANNED FOR '07 ANTELOPE VALLEY AWAITS SPACESHIP, VETERANS HOME, POSSIBLE RETURN OF AIRLINE.

Byline: JIM SKEEN Staff Writer

PALMDALE -- The year ahead for the Antelope Valley promises to offer a glimpse of a new spaceship, the start of a long-sought veterans home, a big push for airline service and perhaps one last mayoral campaign for Palmdale's mayor.

One of the anticipated highlights in aerospace for 2007 is a rollout. While the first passenger flights aren't planned until 2009, Virgin Galactic representatives said they anticipate they will unveil the first of a fleet of spaceships -- SpaceShipTwo -- in 2007.

Patterned after -- but twice as large as -- the SpaceShipOne rocket plane that flew into space from Mojave in 2004, the craft is being built by SpaceShipOne's builder, Burt Rutan. Virgin Galactic is investing up to $250 million for the development, construction, testing and flying of five SpaceShipTwo vehicles and two White Knight 2s, the aircraft that will serve as the first stage for launches.

Virgin Galactic anticipates flight tests will begin in 2008.

Coalition seeks airline

The new year might, at long last, be the one in which an airline will take hold in Palmdale. While officials are skittish about predicting success in luring an airline, they have put together what is arguably the most comprehensive campaign to date -- a campaign with $4.6million in various incentives.

Los Angeles World Airports, the city of Los Angeles' airports department, is leading a coalition that is seeking an airline that would offer flights by 50- to 90-passenger jets to other Western cities, such as Phoenix, San Francisco and Dallas-Forth Worth. The coalition, called Wheels Up Palmdale, will offer more than $2 million in funding to offset operating costs for an airline serving the community and an additional $2.6 million in the form of terminal rental waivers and in-kind services, such as marketing.

Palmdale lost its only airline a year ago when Scenic Airlines pulled out, saying it wasn't carrying enough passengers to make money on its flights to and from North Las Vegas. Scenic, which operated 19-passenger turboprop aircraft out of Palmdale for just more than a year, was the first airline in the Antelope Valley in nearly seven years.

Home finally coming

Without question, one of the biggest events for the Antelope Valley will be a planned mid- to late-summer groundbreaking for a veterans home -- a project the region has been pushing for more than 15 years. The $260 million home will be built on a 30-acre site, donated by the city, at AvenueI and 30th Street West.

The home will have 60 beds and an adult-day-care center capable of handling 50 clients. The home will be designed in a way that it could be expanded in the future.

The Lancaster home will be named after the late state Sen. W.J. ``Pete'' Knight, a record-setting test pilot and a combat veteran.

One last run possible

In Palmdale, an election will be held for the mayor's post and the two seats held by Steve Hofbauer and Mike Dispenza. For Mayor Jim Ledford, the election could be his last mayoral campaign.

Ledford, now in his eighth term as mayor, is limited to one more term under term limits enacted in 2001. The term-limit rules, which didn't apply retroactively, hold mayors to four two-year terms.

james.skeen(at)dailynews

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