“The second time around” usually refers to marriages, love affairs, and attempts to finish what one started.

This week the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved Spaceport America’s environmental impact statement, and even more important, the launch site operator’s license. These two steps are needed to turn the temporary launch facility into the United State’s first spaceport specifically designed for the space tourism industry.

Jeff Greason, president and CEO of XCOR Aerospace, has selected Jules Klar, the president of Great American Travel who founded “$5-a-Day Tours” in 1961, as the agent for flights on XCOR’s spaceplane, the Lynx Mark I—which is now under construction at the XCOR facilities at the Mojave spaceport.

During his flight to the International Space Station from 10 October to 24 October 2008, video game designer and first second-generation astronaut Richard Garriott had to planned a spacewalk outside the International Space Station wearing a to-die-for timepiece: the Seiko Spring Drive Spacewalk watch. Alas, neither Garriott nor the Spacewalk walked in space.

Spaceflight participant Richard Garriot returned to the Kazakhstan steppes on October 24, after spending 12 days in space. Garriott, son of former astronaut Owen Garriott and therefore the first second-generation US astronaut, kept himself occupied during that whole flight. In fact, you may wonder how he had time to sleep.

What is the next best thing to going into space? Being next in line for a trip.

Some folks are never satisfied. Not with paddling down the Amazon, tracking gorillas in Rwanda, diving to the Titanic, or hunting for meteorites in the frozen Antarctic.

In sports, coming in second is almost as bad as finishing last. First place wins the gold medal, the blue ribbon, the biggest trophy, and the bottle of champagne. Second place doesn’t.

Orbital spaceflight broker Space Adventures announced that Dr. Charles Simonyi, the fifth paid spaceflight participant, will be returning to the International Space Station, making him their first customer to take a second trip.

The first symposium on Personal Access to Space held by the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) in Arcachon, France, May 28-30, 2008, was a mixture of both the encouraging and the discouraging.