Now, with one private company after another searching space ports for their crafts, the classic launch centers run the risk of getting obsolete in perhaps a decade. When, not if, the private space flight gets mature the governmental space transportation system won't be able to compete, so they presumably have to buy seats or payload capacity on private owned crafts. And as currently all companies chose new areas as space ports, the old launch centers are slowly pushed out the door. Ok, the private spaceflight first has to become reality and mature, but as Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne demonstrated the principal capability and that many companies announcing and building their crafts, some of them will certainly succeed.

But now, it seems, the owner of the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) realised the competition: Richard Branson's GlobalFlyer, built by Scaled Composites, is due to use the Kennedy Space Center's runway for new record-breaking flights. That's the first time that privately owned crafts can use KSC's facilities. I'm quite confident, that this is not only the first time but also won't be the last time. A nice side-effect for the KSC is certainly the public perception and media interest.

GlobalFlyer's mission is to set a new record for the longest flight. It will be piloted by Steve Fossett, a serial world record breaker in numerous disciplines. He is the man who piloted the GlobalFlyer on its first mission, a  nonstop round the world flight. Even the aircraft lost some fuel, the mission was a success. Now, with the fuel loss problem fixed, the team around Steve Fossett, Sir Richard Branson and Burt Rutan targets a new world record: The Ultimate Flight. The longest non-stop distance flight ever, will result in travelling over 26.000 miles or 42.000 kilometers in a time of about 80 hours. Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility with its runway with over 15.000 feet length, is perfectly suited for the lift-off of such a plane. The landing will take place in the United Kingdom at Kent International Airport, which provides equally a long runway.

Steve Fossett says about NASA's involvement that “the longest distance airplane flight is possible with the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer but is a huge challenge.  To have NASA’s support on this attempt gives this record attempt the best possible start." The Agreement between GlobalFlyer's team and NASA is the beginning of a pilot program to expand access to the space shuttle's runway and landing facility for non-NASA activities.
The executive director of the Florida Space Authority, Winston Scott, calls the new direction “symbolizing a whole new way of doing business. The whole project is exciting. We want to do our best to assist the team.''

So, it would be a good thing, if the launch centers open themselves to the private business and literally become space ports. They have excellent capabilities and infrastructure to handle space crafts, be it orbital or sub-orbital. Both sided would gain advantages: the space craft operators would have access to fully developed space port and its facilities, so the wouldn't have to build their own space ports with all its difficulties like finding a suitable area, getting construction permits and all these things. The space port owner on the other side would have customers for its installations and would get royalties.