Free Republic

It’s no secret that the commercial space industry (aka. NewSpace) has become immensely lucrative in recent years, nor the fact that it has become intensely competitive as a result. To illustrate, one needs to look no further than the top three NewSpace companies in the world right now: SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic. Between these three companies, all founded by billionaires with similar visions, a new space race has begun. In recent months, the race has intensified as Jeff Bezos announced that he would be going to space on the inaugural flight of the New Shepard rocket. In response,...

Thrill-seeking billionaire Richard Branson has reached space aboard his own winged rocket ship in his boldest adventure yet. The feat vaults the nearly 71-year-old Branson past fellow billionaire and rival Jeff Bezos, who is planning to fly to space in a craft of his own nine days from now. With about 500 people watching, including Branson’s wife, children and grandchildren, a twin-fuselage aircraft with his space plane attached underneath took off in the first stage of the flight. Aboard were Branson and five crewmates from his Virgin Galactic space-tourism company.

THE Queen's nephew the Earl of Snowdon appears to have been named in Jeffrey Epstein's infamous little black book of contacts. David Armstrong-Jones - better known as David Linley - seems to have been listed among a string of other high profile names compiled by the paedophile financier. There is no suggestion that the Earl has done anything wrong, or even had any kind of personal relationship with Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell. Mr Linley is the son of The Queen's sister Princess Margaret, is 21st in line to the throne, is an honorary chairman of auction house Christie's, and runs...

A police raid on a business operating in spite of a Repbublican governor's emergency orders but first.... "Analysts have long talked about the end of an American-led system and the arrival of an Asian century. This is now happening in front of our eyes. If the 21st century turns out to be an Asian century, as the 20th was an Amercian one, the pandemic may well be remembered as the turning point of this process" The words of the European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell...... In Idaho last Thursday state police raiding the Hardware Brewing Company in Kendrick. The...

Nicolás Maduro, the embattled leader of Venezuela, said Monday that authorities in Caracas captured 13 “terrorists”—including two U.S. citizens-- in a failed invasion attempt that he said was no doubt orchestrated by the Trump administration. Maduro made a nationwide broadcast on state television and held up a pair of U.S. passports that he said were recovered. He read off the names and birthdays of the two Americans.

Sir Richard Branson is seeking a buyer for Virgin Atlantic and has set an end-of-May deadline to save the airline from collapse after a taxpayer bailout proved beyond his reach. The Sunday Telegraph has learnt that the pursuit of a £500m government package has been effectively shelved and that the airline is now focused on securing new private investment in the shadow of potential insolvency.

Nader, Khawaja, Clintons, Pope Francis, and Elite Converge in UAE & Africa Welcome to the jungle of elites, criminals, and Pope Francis who all seem to have their eyes set on South Africa, while Russia and China run naval drills off the coast. It’s an interesting intersection of events and individuals. What’s more interesting is the timetable of recently indicted George Nader and Andy Khawaja, along with the Clintons and Pope Francis, that leads to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who also have a big interest in South Africa. With the recent African proverb spoken by Pope Francis, mixed in...

...The A380 might have built more momentum if not for production debacles. Around the time of the first test flight in 2005, Airbus realized it had underestimated the complexity of wiring the superjumbo. Managers discovered that French and German designers had used incompatible software. ...More setbacks followed. The engine of an A380 blew up during a passenger flight in 2010. Nobody was hurt, but it drew negative attention to the plane. Wing cracks discovered on many A380s led to costly repairs. Customers, including Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd., Air France-KLM SA and Qantas Airways Ltd. , canceled orders. The...

Latin American artists from throughout the hemisphere convened in Cúcuta, Colombia, Friday, on the border with Venezuela, for the Richard Branson-sponsored “Venezuela Aid Live” concert to demand dictator Nicolás Maduro allow international aid into the country. The long list of diverse artists — many who have been household names in Latin America for decades — did not shy away from making political statements in support of Venezuela’s legitimate president, Juan Guaidó, and demanding that Maduro step aside. Several artists indulged the audience in what has become a common back-and-forth chant at anti-socialist protests: “Maduro, ¡el coño de tu madre!” or...

Roger Waters tells Richard Branson to ‘back off’ over Venezuela in bizarre dispute over benefit concert Pink Floyd rocker Roger Waters has warned Richard Branson to “back off” over efforts to raise money for humanitarian aid in Venezuela with a Live Aid-style concert, telling the entrepreneur that it has “nothing to do with their needs.” Waters’ pointed criticism at his countryman comes as Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, says he is hoping to raise $100 million on Friday for people suffering in the South American country, which is currently undergoing a leadership and economic crisis with the regime of...

"The people of Venezuela are standing for freedom and democracy and the United States of America is standing right by their side" President Donald J. Trump Speaks In Miami 2/18/2019 Speaking in Miami Monday afternoon President Donald Trump urged the Venezuelan military to stop its support for Nicolas Maduro and come out in support of Interim President Juan Guaido. Trump noted that Guaido has offered amnesty and also warned that the US knows where the military has any ill gotten gains given to them by Maduro stashed in financial institutions. The President laid out a vision of democracy for Venezuela...

Billionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist Richard Branson said Thursday that taxing the rich "makes sense," arguing the extremely affluent have a responsibility to tackle some of the biggest problems in the world, including wealth disparities. "People like myself are incredibly fortunate," the Virgin Group founder told CNBC's Morgan Brennan in an interview. "I suspect there should be higher taxes for the wealthy around the world and I don't think they would object to that." Branson — with a net worth of $4.1 billion, according to Forbes — is part of the growing circle of elite business leaders questioning wealth disparity in...

An archaeological dig has unearthed new evidence of a three-day attack on Edinburgh Castle - on a site earmarked for a luxury hotel by Sir Richard Branson. Experts believe they have found a carved stone which would have been fired from a giant catapult during the pivotal siege in 1296. It led to Edward I seizing control of the medieval fortress, plundering its treasures and shipping them to London, and the castle being held under English rule for 18 years. Archaeologists made the discovery at the site of the proposed new Virgin Hotel, which is earmarked for a large swathe...

Virgin Galactic LLC, Richard Branson’s space-tourism venture, reached the edge of space in a test flight Thursday, four years after a fatal accident set back the project, forced a reassessment of safety issues and roiled the growing commercial-space industry. Virgin Galactic launched the spaceplane called SpaceShip Two and its two pilots from a carrier aircraft cruising miles above Southern California’s Mojave desert. For around $200,000 a seat, the closely held company seeks to offer thrill rides featuring majestic views of the earth capped by a few minutes of weightlessness. The launch also could provide momentum for nascent private efforts to...

One solution to income inequality is giving out free cash, according to the British billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson. “A basic income should be introduced in Europe and in America,” Branson told David Gelles of The New York Times. Branson was responding to the question, “What do you think those in positions of power should do to address social problems like income inequality?”

Mojave CA (UPI) Oct 5, 2004 The world's newest spaceship is back at its spotless hangar at the Mojave Airport, serving as a backdrop for dozens of television news shows. The day after its flawless third flight out of the atmosphere - a mission that captured a $10-million cash prize for its owners - it was quiet. Only a handful of the thousands of guests who came to witness the flight remained in town. Still spanking new, SpaceShipOne has fulfilled its mission, forever retiring the notion that only governments can fly people beyond the atmosphere. Spaceship creator Burt Rutan plans...

Early analysis suggests that a violent structural failure rather than an engine explosion may have caused the crash of Virgin Galactic LLC’s experimental rocket ship Friday, according to safety experts and one person familiar with details of the investigation. The National Transportation Safety Board’s probe of the accident is just beginning and it could change direction, these people said. But based on video footage and preliminary data analysis, they said, investigators are focusing on aerodynamic forces that could have caused the dramatic in-flight rupture of the craft, which killed one pilot and seriously injured the other. Because some engine malfunctions...

The pilot who survived the SpaceShipTwo crash says that his parachute deployed automatically after he was extracted from the vehicle while it broke up. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board began interviewing the pilot, Peter Siebold, on Friday, following the ship's crash late last month. He was discharged from the hospital last Monday after being treated for injuries to his shoulder. The NTSB says that Siebold's accounts are consistent with what it's learned from other sources of data, such as video, in its ongoing investigation.

Participating in the press conference were executives Kevin Mickey, CEO of Scaled Composites, George Whitesides, CEO of Virgin Galactic and Stu Witt, chief executive of Mojave Air and Space Port. They emphasized that the nylon-based rocket fuel and engine had been thoroughly tested on the ground and they were confident of its readiness for in-flight testing. ... Two minutes into the powered flight would have permitted considerable time for SpaceShipTwo to gain altitude and speed. The pilots were not wearing pressure suits, only masks providing supplemental oxygen. At 50,000 feet and more, conditions are equivalent to space, and fluids in...

Virgin Galactic said its SpaceShipTwo rocket plane suffered an "in-flight anomaly" during a powered test flight on Friday that resulted in the loss of the aircraft. #SpaceShipTwo has experienced an in-flight anomaly. Additional info and statement forthcoming. — Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) October