Tag Archive for 'SpaceShipTwo'Page 2 of 6

Happy Birthday, Suborbital Tourism: Now, Will Ya Go Fly Some Actual Tourists Already?

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Doug
on June 28, 2008
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Alan Boyle helps the space tourism industry celebrate its fourth “birthday” with a piece over at MSNBC. Or, more accurately, he marks the anniversary of Burt Rutan and Scaled Composites ushering in the “age of privately developed spaceflight” with the first suborbital flight of SpaceShipOne.

Boyle reviews the progress since that date, noting the only predictable thing is the industry’s unpredictability. Virgin Galactic’s first suborbital tourist flight is still about two years away, which is more or less where it was back in June 2004.

For his part, Rutan professes to have been so caught up building SpaceShipTwo that he plum forgot about the whole anniversary thing until Boyle reminded him. This folksy “ahh shucks” response may be designed to minimize the four years that have passed since that historic flight. Or things are so far behind schedule that he genuinely did forget.

Whatever the case, the legendary designer is not as active as he once was in Scaled Composites, which is now fully owned by defense colossus Northrop Grumman. Rutan, who is still recovering from open heart surgery in February, stepped down as the company’s president earlier this month. Sources who have seen him give speeches in recent months report that he has a tendency to meander off topic into tangents, a sign of how much the surgery has affected him.

Meanwhile, Space.com’s Tariq Malik looks at a couple of upcoming space tourism events: Virgin Galactic’s scheduled July 28 rollout of its WhiteKnightTwo aircraft, which will haul SpaceShipTwo aloft; and Space Adventures’ October launch of publicity shy Richard Garriott, who will be the latest billionaire to use the taxpayer-funded International Space Station as an orbiting hotel.

Virgin Galactic to Roll Out WhiteKnightTwo in July; Team to Visit Oshkosh Air Show

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Doug
on June 8, 2008
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Virgin Galactic plans to roll out its WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft in Mojave, Calif. on July 28, according to published reports. The London-based company has invited 254 would-be space tourists who have plopped down $20,000 to $200,000 for suborbital joyrides to the ceremony.

WhiteKnightTwo is expected to fly in September, Leonard David reports at Space.com. Company president Will Whitehorn tells David that Virgin has planned an “incredibly conservative” test flight program for the mother ship and SpaceShipTwo before flying passengers on suborbital tourism flights.

The roll out will be coordinated with the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2008 air show in Wisconsin, which runs from July 28 to August 3.

Continue reading ‘Virgin Galactic to Roll Out WhiteKnightTwo in July; Team to Visit Oshkosh Air Show’

Burt Rutan Steps Down, Shane Takes Over

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on June 6, 2008
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Burt Rutan, Designer Of SpaceShipOne, Steps Down as Scaled President
AP

Burt Rutan, inventor of the first privately financed manned rocket to reach space, stepped down as president of Scaled Composites LLC, the company announced Wednesday.

Rutan gave up his day-to-day responsibilities at Scaled, which he founded in 1982. Scaled Vice President Douglas B. Shane was promoted to president, while Rutan will remain at the company as chief technology officer and chairman emeritus….

Rutan has been recovering from open-heart surgery in February to fix a disorder known as constrictive pericarditis, in which the sac covering the heart is inflamed.

Parabolas: Virgin on a Roll, Human-Rated ATVs, and Japanese Spaceplanes

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Doug
on May 29, 2008
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Rob Coppinger takes a look at developments in human spaceflight over at his Hyperbola blog, including:

  • Virgin Galactic’s plan to roll out its White Knight carrier aircraft in about two months’ time;
  • EADS-Astrium’s proposal for an ATV-derived capsule, with photos of a mockup unveiled at the Berlin Air Show (the BBC also has a story);
  • a six-person capsule being jointly studied by Europe and Russia for possible launch on the Zenit;
  • Mitsubuishi Heavy Industries‘ reusable space plane roadmap;
  • a proposal for ESA to assist European companies in developing space tourism.

In related news, Virgin Galactic and the National Space Society have announced a new Space Ambassadors program. The program will train people to go forth and spread the word about the great benefits of space exploration, NSS and Virgin Galactic in their communities. One lucky ambassador will get to fly into space aboard Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo. Virgin and NSS have not decided how the winner will be chosen.

Branson: Tourism Flights Set for Late 2010

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Doug
on May 18, 2008
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The Sunday Mirror quotes Richard Branson as saying that Virgin Galactic tourism flights are still about 30 months away. The British billionaire, speaking in Kenya where his company has rebuilt a school, said that he expects to begin flights in November 2010 after a rigorous test flight program for SpaceShipTwo and its White Knight carrier aircraft.

“NASA have [sic] lost three per cent of all their customers so our testing will be intense,” Branson said. “We are planning 50 test flights before we go up so we will be confident of getting it right.”

He plans to take his parents and children on the first tourism flight - but not his wife, Joan. “She’s not terribly keen on the idea of the kids coming up with me although I think she’s not too bothered about what might happen to me!” Branson joked.

Virgin Launches School Competition, Seeks More Agents in Middle East

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Doug
on May 1, 2008
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Virgin Galactic has launched a competition for English schoolchildren. First prize: a trip to American West to watch a flight of - wait for it - Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo as it carries tourists into space.

Students 11-14 years old will work in teams of four to create a marketable product that demonstrates one of the principles the company uses in its space program.  Mission Virgin Galactic is being co-sponsored by the Royal Air Force and the Royal Aeronautical Society.

“Mission Virgin Galactic sets out to reinvigorate interest in the sheer excitement of recent developments in engineering and their context to new technologies in aerospace and transportation generally,” said Virgin Galactic president Will Whitehorn.

“We have to find solutions to the issues this planet faces and it will only be through a new generation of enthusiastic and environmentally conscious young engineers, entrepreneurs and scientists that we will achieve it. Hopefully, the lure of one day going to space can help to spur that spirit,” he added.

Virgin Galactic also is seeking more agents to sell its space flights in the Middle East. ArabianBusiness.com has the full story.

More Q1 Numbers: Raytheon’s Profits Up, Grumman’s Down

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Doug
on April 25, 2008
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Buoyed by increased defense sales, Raytheon reported first-quarter profits of $400 million, or 93 cents per share. The world’s fifth largest defense contractor’s 15-percent growth exceeded Wall Street expectations, and company officials re-iterated earlier guidance double-digit profit growth this year.

Associated Press Story
Raytheon Press Release

Northrop Grumman reported that first-quarter earnings fell 32 percent after “the company was forced to take a charge due to rising costs and delays with an amphibious assault ship program it is building for the U.S. Navy,” the Associated Press reported.

Northrop Grumman does extensive aerospace work. Last year, it purchase Scaled Composites, the Mojave, Calif.-based company that is building the SpaceShipTwo suborbital tourism vehicle.

Quiet NM Town Divided on Eve of Crucial Spaceport Vote

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Doug
on April 20, 2008
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The small, quiet town of Truth or Consequences, NM - best known for its thriving arts community and its access to hot springs and the state’s largest lake - has been thrust into the center of a debate over our future in space.

On Tuesday, voters in this community of 7,000 will help decide the fate of Spaceport America, New Mexico’s ambitious effort to build a gateway to the heavens. Residents in T or C and throughout Sierra County will vote on a .25 cent increase in the gross receipts tax to help fund the $198 million facility in the southern part of the county. A “yes” vote is crucial to forming a tax district with neighboring Doña Ana and Otera counties.

The Las Cruces Sun-News reports that the vote could go either way. A pro-spaceport tax group, People for Aerospace, has been campaigning heavily throughout Sierra County, promoting the project’s economic benefits. However, other residents have opposed the tax increase, placing anti-tax signs on T or C streets and staging a rally over the weekend.

Continue reading ‘Quiet NM Town Divided on Eve of Crucial Spaceport Vote’

Branson to Officiate Over First Space Wedding; Will Princess Beatrice be the Bride?

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Doug
on April 20, 2008
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Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson could preside over the first marriage in space aboard his SpaceShipTwo vehicle next year, The Daily Mail reports.

Although the pair is unidentified, the article notes that British Princess Beatrice, the 19-year-old daughter of Sarah Ferguson, wants to be the first royal married in space. Beatrice, fifth in line to the British throne, is involved with Dave Clark, who works in Virgin Galactic’s marketing department.

The couple can probably get a discount on the $200,000 per person flight, although Beatrice would have no trouble paying for it. The Mail reports that the club-hopping royal was recently looking at a £4.25 million ($8.5 million) four-bedroom, four-bathroom house in the tony London neighborhood of Belgravia.

Whoever the bride and groom are, they presumably would be married during the roughly five minutes of weightlessness they would enjoy during the suborbital flight, which will fly to an altitude of around 68 miles.

Presiding over weddings has become somewhat of a sideline for the brash, publicity savvy Branson. Last year, he became a minister for a day through an online church to officiate over the wedding of Virgin America marketing director Dimitrios Papadognonas and Coco Jones during a Virgin America Airlines flight from San Francisco to Las Vegas. The British billionaire also helped officiate over Google founder Larry Page’s wedding, which was held on Branson’s private Caribbean island.

It’s an interesting approach to nuptials. Weddings are usually about putting the couple up on a pedestal. One never upstages the bride and groom - especially the bride. Having a world famous, publicity-seeking billionaire presiding over the ceremony would tend to do precisely that. Unless, of course, you’re British royalty and outrank him.

On the other hand, who’s going to tell Richard Branson that you don’t want him to preside over the first wedding ever held in outer space aboard his own space plane? Probably no one. I suppose you would treat it as an honor and roll with it.

Virgin Galactic Dangles Free Spaceflight in Front of NM Voters

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Doug
on April 18, 2008
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Only days before a crucial public vote on funding Spaceport America, Virgin Galactic has dangled the offer of one free spaceflight per year if residents approve a tax increase to help fund the spaceport.

The Las Cruces Sun-Times, quoting an Albuquerque Journal story, reports that Virgin Galactic President Will Whitehorn made the offer on Tuesday during a public forum in Truth or Consequences. The London-based company is expected to be an anchor tenant at the desert facility.

Voters in T or C and throughout Sierra County will go to the polls on Tuesday to vote on a .25 cent increase in the gross receipts tax. Approval is required to form a three-county tax district with Doña Ana and Otera counties.

Only one resident in the three counties would be able to go on a suborbital flight per year. The flights are being retailed at $200,000 each.

The vote in Sierra County is expected to be close, as was the one last year in Doña Ana County. (Otera residents have yet to vote.) The sprawling, sparsely populated county has about 12,600 residents, one in five of whom live below the poverty line. More than 28 percent of residents are 65 years or older. And Sierra County’s median household income in 2004 was only $23,821, less than two-thirds of New Mexico’s $37,838 median income.