Space tourism edges closer as Richard Branson moves Virgin Galactic rocket to launch base

Billionaire Richard Branson is moving Virgin Galactic’s winged passenger rocket and more than 100 employees from California to a remote commercial launch and landing facility in southern New Mexico, bringing his space tourism dream a step closer to reality. Branson said on Friday that Virgin Galactic’s development and testing programme has advanced enough to make the move to the customised hangar and runway at the US$200 million taxpayer-financed Spaceport America facility near the town of Truth or Consequences. Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides said a small number of flight tests are pending. He declined to set a specific deadline for the first commercial flight. An interior cabin for the company’s space rocket is being tested and pilots and engineers are among the employees moving from California to New Mexico. The shift to New Mexico puts the company on the “home stretch”, Whitesides said. The manufacturing of the space vehicles by a sister enterprise, The Spaceship Company, will stay in Mojave, California. Virgin Galactic’s spaceship development has taken longer than expected and had a major setback when the company’s first experimental craft broke apart in a 2014 test flight, killing the co-pilot. Branson said he believes space tourism – once it begins – is likely to bring about profound change. “Our future success as a species rests on the planetary perspective,” Branson said. “The perspective that we know comes sharply into focus when that planet is viewed from the black sky of space.” Branson described a vision of hotels in space and a network of spaceports allowing supersonic, transcontinental travel anywhere on Earth within a few hours. He indicated, however, that building financial viability comes first. “We need the financial impetus to be able to do all that,” he said. “If the space programme is successful as I think … then the sky is the limit.” Pictures do not do the view from space justice … I will be able to see it forever Beth Moses, SpaceShipTwo crew In February, a new version of Virgin Galactic’s winged craft SpaceShipTwo soared at three times the speed of sound to an altitude of nearly 99km (56 miles) in a test flight over Southern California. Crew member Beth Moses recounted her voyage into weightlessness and the visual spectacle of pitch-black space and the Earth below. “Everything is silent and still and you can unstrap and float about the cabin,” she said. “Pictures do not do the view from space justice … I will be able to see it forever.” The company’s current spaceship does not launch from the ground. It is carried under a special plane to about 15,240 metres (50,000 feet) before detaching and igniting its rocket engine. “Release is like free fall at an amusement park, except it keeps going,” Moses said. “And then the rocket motor lights. Before you know it, you’re supersonic.” What is space junk and why is it a problem? The craft coasts to the top of its climb before gradually descending to Earth, stabilised by “feathering” technology in which twin tails rotate upwards to increase drag on the way to a runway landing. Branson has said he would like to make his first suborbital flight this year as one of the venture’s first passengers on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20. But he did not mention timelines on Friday. When pressed, Whitesides said he anticipates the first commercial flight within a year. Three people with future space flight reservations were at the press conference. “They’ve been patient too,” Branson said. “Space is hard.” Hundreds of potential customers have committed as much as US$250,000 up front for rides in Virgin’s six-passenger rocket, which is about the size of an executive jet. Space tourism has not been a complete novelty since millionaire US engineer Dennis Tito in 2001 paid US$20 million to join a Russian space mission to the International Space Station. Branson’s goal has been to “democratise” space by opening travel up to more people. Space sector analyst Adam Jonas, said Branson’s venture could have a big impact on how the public visualises space as a domain for scientific and commercial exploration. “You bring them back to Earth and they explain what they saw – that’s a story, put through the velocity of social media, people want to hear,” he said. “Sometimes you need some distance to gain a perspective, seeing the Earth from space, seeing how thin that layer of atmosphere is that protects us.” Branson’s plans have gradually advanced amid a broader surge in private investment in space technology. Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos announced on Thursday that his space company Blue Origin will send a robotic spaceship to the moon with aspirations for another ship that could take people there along the same time frame as Nasa’s proposed 2024 return. Bezos has not mentioned launch dates.

Space tourism edges closer as Richard Branson moves Virgin Galactic rocket to launch base

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}British entrepreneur said space tourism is likely to bring about profound change and the success of the species rests on a ‘planetary perspective’

British entrepreneur said space tourism is likely to bring about profound change and the success of the species rests on a ‘planetary perspective’