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Virgin Galactic is a company established by Richard Branson's Virgin Group to undertake the challenge of developing space tourism for everybody. Virgin Galactic will own and operate privately built spaceships, modelled on the history-making SpaceShipOne craft. These spaceships will allow affordable sub-orbital space tourism for the first time in our history. Due to the unique technology developed by Burt Rutan, this space craft design has overcome the difficult issues of re-entry into the earth's atmosphere faced by so many designers trying to create efficient, re-usable space vehicles. We believe that it is in mankind's interest to develop our knowledge and...

rocketed into history in the skies over Mojave in the first privately funded, manned space flight. On Oct. 5, 2005, SpaceShipOne will take its place with other icons in the history of flight, as it is unveiled in the Milestones of Flight Gallery of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. The spacecraft, the creation of designer extraordinaire Burt Rutan and his Scaled Composites team, will hang suspended between Chuck Yeager's Bell X-1, the first aircraft to break the sound barrier, and Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis, the first aircraft to complete a solo flight across the Atlantic. "It...

SAN LUIS OBISPO - The nation's youth need something new and exciting to inspire them to be the creative geniuses of tomorrow, Burt Rutan believes. Rutan, arguably one of today's most creative geniuses, thinks commercial manned spaceflight is the answer to that challenge. Rutan outlined his vision for the future of personal space travel for the masses Friday at his alma mater, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. The noted aviation designer - seen by many as responsible for launching a new era in spaceflight with his SpaceShipOne spacecraft - was honored by the university during its annual Fall...

OSHKOSH, Wis. - When SpaceShipOne rocketed into space over Mojave last year, claiming the $10 million Ansari X Prize, the feat represented, not the end of a journey to create the first privately funded, manned space program, but the launch a new era of human spaceflight. "We're on the verge of the most amazing period of human evolution ever," where humankind begins to move off this planet and into space, said Peter Diamandis, chairman of the X Prize Foundation. Going into space is a "moral imperative," Diamandis told visitors to the Experimental Aircraft Association's AirVenture 2005 on Thursday. The annual...

Invent the Lever Dennis Polhill / Alex Schroeder Opinion Editorial July 13, 2005 If one could put $100 in the bank and get back $4000, one would be a fool to not do it. A $10 million prize offered by a St. Louis group has stimulated $400 million in research and development since 1996. Equally important, the X-Prize accomplished in eight years what NASA considered impossible. The contest motivated Burt Rutan to build the world's first privately funded spacecraft. Space Ship One went into space for the third time on October 4, 2004 to win the X-Prize. Since X-Prize inception,...

The X-37 -- an unpiloted, reusable spaceplane – made its first captive-carry flight today under the wings of the White Knight, flying above Mojave, California desert. The Boeing, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), NASA-supported vehicle had undergone a systematic step-by-step pre-flight checkout. At the Mojave, California Spaceport Scaled Composites' White Knight carrier plane had previously taken the X-37 for repeated runs down the runway – all in preparation for today's liftoff and return landing of the twosome. Tagged by DARPA as an Approach and Landing Test Vehicle (ALTV), the X-37 will undergo captive carry flights, followed by high-altitude drop...

The future looks bright for civilian suborbital spaceflight, with a host of private firms developing spacecraft to carry anyone with a willing heart and a robust bank account on the ultimate trip. One year after the history-making suborbital space shot of SpaceShipOne, commercial spaceflight efforts continue to make headway through government regulation and technological hurdles, each with its eye on the space tourism market. On June 21, 2004, the privately-built SpaceShipOne dropped from its White Knight mothership above the Mojave Desert and rocketed into history as the first civilian-funded spacecraft to reach suborbital space with a human pilot at the...

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today criticized plans to move forward with missions to the moon and Mars with an impending record deficit, chronic management problems at NASA, and unresolved questions about the missions’ cost and feasibility. NASA’s new administrator Michael Griffin has said that the space agency will have the money to implement President Bush’s “Vision for Space Exploration,” aimed at returning humans to the moon by 2020 and eventually sending them to Mars. “A manned mission to Mars is of questionable scientific value and could cost up to $1 trillion,” CAGW President Tom Schatz said. “The immense technological...

ARLINGTON, Virginia – The long-awaited and long-delayed debut of the privately-built Falcon 1 rocket has a launch date in sight. "August would be a good bet," said Elon Musk, chairman and chief executive officer of Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) of El Segundo, California. The rocketeer and his team are anxiously awaiting liftoff of a Titan 4 carrying a classified payload from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California – now slated to take to the air around mid-July, he said. "We expect the range would assign us a launch date that is within two to three weeks of the Titan...

ARLINGTON, Virginia – The long-awaited and long-delayed debut of the privately-built Falcon 1 rocket has a launch date in sight. "August would be a good bet," said Elon Musk, chairman and chief executive officer of Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) of El Segundo, California. The rocketeer and his team are anxiously awaiting liftoff of a Titan 4 carrying a classified payload from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California – now slated to take to the air around mid-July, he said.

Details of a new passenger-carrying rocket are emerging from Blue Origin, the Seattle-based company spearheaded by Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com. The first test flight of the rocket in unpiloted mode is slated for late next year. On the group’s web site, they have posted an update on their reusable launch vehicle (RLV) work. The exposure is tied to steps needed in securing an operator license from the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Office of Commercial Space Transportation in Washington, D.C. That FAA office has had several meetings with Blue Origin, said Patricia Smith, Associate Administrator for the Office of Commercial...

A public meeting was held June 14 in Van Horn, Texas as part of a series of steps to gain a governmental okay for Blue Origin to launch its rockets. Blue Origin is the Seattle-based company bankrolled by Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, to create and launch passenger-carrying spacecraft. “The public information meetings are part of the environmental assessment process required by the FAA,” said Gwen Griffin, a spokesperson for the rocket group. “The meetings are for the public to make comments or ask questions about Blue Origin’s proposal,” she told SPACE.com. A launch operator license must be obtained from...

The road to space for a Canadian spaceship is a bit shorter now that its rocketeer team has found a suitable launch site. The Ontario-based firm PLANETSPACE/Canadian Arrow announced today that it has chosen a military base near Cape Rich, just off Georgian Bay, as the proving ground for its manned suborbital spacecraft. Located on the Canadian Forces Meaford Range and Testing Area, the site will host engine test fires, escape system shakedowns and ultimately the first flights for the Canadian Arrow launch vehicle, project officials told SPACE.com. “It’s about 70 square kilometers (44 square miles), so it’s a huge...

Following an on-the-pad short burst firing of their Falcon 1 rocket engine last month, Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) is on track for a maiden flight of the privately-built booster. Assuming that there are no further delays in lofting a Titan 4 classified mission from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California – now slated for a July departure – SpaceX expects to receive a Falcon 1 launch window from that spaceport for an August timeframe. The five second engine firing on May 27 of Falcon 1’s Merlin main engine was “picture perfect,” explained Elon Musk, chairman and chief executive officer...

The innovative carrier plane used to air launch SpaceShipOne has a new mission. At the Mojave, California inland spaceport, the White Knight mothership has been involved in fit and high-speed taxi checks with a new passenger – the X-37, an unpiloted, reusable spaceplane. The White Knight/X-37 combination has undergone a set of recent ground evaluations, including high-speed taxi testing this week. Designed by Scaled Composites of Mojave, California, the White Knight was utilized to haul SpaceShipOne to altitude and then released the piloted rocketplane for its record-setting suborbital treks, including the snagging of the high-stakes $10 million Ansari X Prize...

Red Tape For SpaceShipTwo SS1 has launched a new era in civil aviation that could lead to civil spaceflight. Desktop available 1024x768 by Irene Mona Klotz Cape Canaveral (UPI) Apr 26, 2005 Last week, aspiring personal spaceflight operator Virgin Galactic quietly delayed the target date for launching its first commercial suborbital spaceflight by a year or so -- not surprising considering the scope and technical complexity of building a space vehicle for tourists instead of professional astronauts. What did raise eyebrows during the congressional hearing on commercial space -- which is where Will Whitehorn, Virgin Galactic's president, dropped his news...

Speaking before the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics today, SpaceShipOne designer Burt Rutan said the commercial space industry will thrive but the current regulatory system is need of repair and nearly destroyed his program. Rutan was one a of a group experts in the emerging commercial space market to testify before lawmakers. Congress is attempting to define what role the government should or shouldn’t play in supporting entrepreneurial space progress. The potential of space tourism was made all the more real by last year’s successful suborbital flights by SpaceShipOne, the world’s first privately-built and human-piloted spaceship. Work is underway...

WASHINGTON - The inventor of the first private spaceship predicted Wednesday that commercial manned space flight would move quickly from joyrides for millionaires to the general public and spawn advances not yet imagined — much as early computers opened the way for the Internet.

Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics Hearing Charter: Future Markets for Commercial Space Future Markets for Commercial Space April 20, 2005 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon 2318 Rayburn House Office Building Purpose: On Wednesday, April 20, at 9:30 a.m., the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics will hold a hearing to examine the future of the commercial space market and the government's role in that future. Last year, the President signed into law the Science Committee's Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act, which dealt with regulating one aspect of commercial space - private, human suborbital flights, which are generally intended for space tourism....

MOJAVE - Time is running out for those interested in claiming souvenirs of the historic SpaceShipOne spaceflights. The nonprofit Rocket Boosters will cease Internet sales of the exclusive licensed merchandise on March 15. The gear - shirts, mugs, calendars, pins and similar memorabilia - may be ordered at the organization's Web site, www.rocketboosters.org. As the sale is winding down, some merchandise is limited. Created by famed aviation designer Burt Rutan and built at his Scaled Composites in Mojave, SpaceShipOne made history last year as the first privately funded, manned space program. It claimed the $10 million Ansari X Prize with...