Slashdot Mirror
Virgin Atlantic Licensing SpaceShipOne
Tigerquoll writes "According to the Australian Broadcasting Commission, British airline magnate Richard Branson has announced a plan for the world's first commercial space flights and has signed a technology licensing deal with Mojave Aerospace Ventures - the US company behind SpaceShipOne. See scaled composites' media release and the Virgin Galactic website"
As we all know, when you ride a Virgin you boldly go where no man has gone before.
"Our press release was covered by Slashdot today! Perfect! Make sure our database guys delete all records received before October 1, because they're poor geeks who just want the brochure for free. Don't waste your phone calls on these freeloaders."
What's your damage, Heather?
I may never get onto the world's first commercial supersonic jet, now that it's been retired, but with an initial price of £115,000 I'll certainly hope that (after another 5 years or so, when the price has come down), I'll get into space. Cool. Really cool if it flies over my house :-))
I'd always regretted not doing the quick flight to NY from London (not that I could afford it!), even with tiny seats. I'm told it was just about possible to pop over the pond, do your xmas shopping in a different continent, and pop back the next day (same day was possible but left little time for shopping...) Let's just hope that the space-flights stimulate some competition, unlike Concorde, because then the next goal would quickly become 'lunar city'...
I think that 'Virgin Galactic' is hopelessly optimistic, though, given that it's sub-orbital. I'm guessing people won't really want the 'galactic' version, and a return ticket might be a bit superfluous...
Simon
Physicists get Hadrons!
How will be the insurance cost calculated ?
I mean, there are stats which help defining the cost of a plane travel insurance but there ain't such stats concerning commercial flights...
Trolling using another account since 2005.
If you look at the BBC article, the Virgin spacecraft design is to be called the VSS Enterprise!
Created on..............: Wed, May 08, 2002
Now there's some foward planning!
" If it is a success, we want to move into orbital flights and then, possibly, even get a hotel up there"
-Sir Richard Branson
From bbc
http://efil.blogspot.com/
Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
This is the best news I've heard all year!
Since 7 AM, I feel like I'm living a book by Arthur C. Clarke. I've been waiting for this since I was a kid. I've just been repeating the company name over and over in my head:
Virgin Galactic Spacelines.
Wow.
Oh - and it seems they have a website...be sure to check it out!
The licensing deal with M.A.V. could be worth up to £14 million ($21.5 million) over the next fifteen years depending on the number of spaceships built by Virgin.
The development alone of the technology is predictably high:
It is expected that around £60 million ($100 million) will be invested in developing the new generation of spaceships and ground infrastructure required to operate a sub orbital space tourism experience.
The revenue for flights seems about what one would expect:
Over five years Virgin expects to create around 3000 astronauts and the price per seat on each flight, which will include at least three days of pre-flight training, are expected to start at around £115,000 ($190,000).
So, given all of these numbers, doesn't $21M for a license seem low?
-erick
http://www.busyweather.com/
After having spent 30 years of research in order to conquer the complexities of making
train carriages tilt while travelling along a curve at 150 miles/hour, and taking 15 minutes off the travel time, it's only
a small step to having reusable space craft running shuttle flights to and from Mars.
Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
The virgin galactic (which translates to Virgin Milky...) site gushes about the spiritual experience for rich tourists ("executive jets"..."dine with astronauts" yadda yadda) but the true opportunity for the foreseeable future will be IMHO in high speed intercontinental flight for those for whom it is really important. Let space tourism pave the way (like the rich did with the automobile) but let's not forget the ultimate goal. Then I can finally go to a conference in Australia without haveing to reserve two days for getting there!
----- One learns to itch where one can scratch.
Only if you are completely unfamiliar with the way the words `stunt' and `publicity' can be arranged into a well known phrase or saying.
Beardie can't even run a worthwhile train company.
_O_
.|< The named which can be named is not the true named
Woohoo! *Finally* a use for all those damn Air Miles I've accumulated!
You must think in Russian.
That's quite a bit for a one-off publicity stunt,
`Could' is the important word here.
entirely aside from the 14 Million Pounds already invested.
Which 14 million?
So they haven't actually committed to 14 million. Indeed the press release doesn't say how much they have comitted to, so we can assume it is not very much -- or MAV would be crowing about it._O_
.|< The named which can be named is not the true named
At that time, they will have accrued enough cash and guts to build a hotel in orbit. They'll advertise the scenic view, but hint at the zero-G beds. When that wears off, there's the moon. By the time we get to Mars, we'll probably have the technology to get there fast enough and then the solar system's in our back yard. But not Europa. We'll attempt no landings there.
Money for nothing, pix for free
I like Branson;
...
I have always thought of Branson as a "Nice Guy" yes, he has his finger in a few pies. But it seems to me that when he takes on a loss making public service (british transport ) and makes a good stab at turning it around for the better of the people.... I Just get the impression that his heart is in the right place. I will never forgive the lottery commision in the UK for not awarding it to branson; who promised that all of the money made from ticket sales would go to deserving causes rather than the percentage (whatever that is) that Camelot give away.
Nick
Electronic Music Made Using Linux http://soundcloud.com/polyp
If so, he plans pretty far in advance:
There is no sig, there is only Zuul.
Branson is a master of PR, and I wouldn't be remotely surprised if this venture gets quietly binned, once its provided its much needed channels to allow Branson time to plug his newly launched credit card
He's also a successful entrepreneur to the tune of billions, so I wouldn't write him off that quickly. He must be doing something right.
When he started an airline (Virgin Atlantic) people aired similar doubts. When British Airlines realised he was serious they threw every dirty trick in the book at him... but they got smacked down in the courts when Branson proved they were operating an effective monopoly (a situation close to slashdot readers' hearts).
Despite extensive industrial sabotage, Virgin launched the worlds prototype discount airline, which to date has been massively successful. Virgin Blue, the australian arm of the business, has captured a third of the domestic market from Qantas within a few years. All the while Virgin has dominated another form of air travel with Virgin Balloons. But I'm sure that was a ploy to sell plastic credit too.
Naive spin-master or visionary benefactor? I think Branson's record speaks for itself.
The site says that after your flight, you'll have a dinner where you'll be presented with your astronaut wings. I can see some resentment from the established astronaut/cosmonaut/taikonaut corps to this.
How much do you want to bet that the requirements for receiving your wings will be raised by 100km or so?
Chip H.
Actually Virgin is not a discount airline, it's a traditional carrier with a simple network, and so greater control over its costs. As another poster has noted, Branson's competition is the entrenched large airlines such as BA and AA who had it their own way for too long.
Having said that, he doesn't seem to want to compete *too* hard - I just had a look at a flight LHR(28th)->JFK, overnight stay, return next day, cheapest seats: BA £860, Virgin £855 (cf American at £947).
The world has changed and we all have become metal men.