Regular space tourism might be coming to earthlings in a much closer date than the Jetsons age, thanks to the eager legislators of New Mexico. On April 3, a referendum will be held with the voters of New Mexico, to decide on a new sales tax to fund this space tourism project.

The people of Mexico plan to name such a spaceport "Spaceport America". New Mexico governor Bill Richardson worked with the southwest desert state's legislature to secure 33 million dollars for this spaceport that they plan to make the world's first commercial spaceport.

If the lawmakers get through this referendum, revenue-generated taxes will create Spaceport America, whose maiden voyage is targeted to shoot up the space three years from now. Ain't that exciting? Already there are plans to build spaceports all over the world. New Mexico is swept up in a race to build the first functioning commercial space port in the world.

In the US alone, plans for commercial spaceports are being implemented in California and Oklahoma. The New Mexico spaceport however needs another 67 million dollars, plus license by the Federal Aviation Administration, to get it up and running.

A handful of people all around the world have actually already experienced being space tourists. The latest one is an Iranian-born American woman who paid US$ 25 million dollars to space tourism agency Space Adventures for a week-long ride.