It's Mission: Draw Tourists Into Space (For A Hefty Sum)
Call it the galactic dream team: Sir Richard Branson and his
Virgin Group have teamed up with Paul Allen's Mojave Aerospace
Ventures to create the world's first privately funded spaceships
dedicated to carrying commercial passengers on space flights. The
licensing deal with M.A.V. could be worth up to $21.5 million over
the next fifteen years, depending on the number of spaceships built
by Virgin.
SpaceShipOne, which is solely funded by Paul G. Allen, was
designed by aviation legend Burt Rutan and built by his company,
Scaled Composites. On June 21st Mike Melvill piloted this unique
craft to a height of 100 km (62 miles) and into the history books
and record books as the world's first private manned space flight.
Separately to Virgin's agreement with M.A.V., the company has also
signed a Letter of Intent to agree contract terms with Burt Rutan
and Scaled Composites, to utilise the technology in building new
spaceships and derivatives thereof, for the purposes of carrying
paying passengers on a journey to the stars -- returning to earth
as astronauts two hours later.
Virgin has formed Virgin Galactic ('V.G.') a new company, which
will become the world's first commercial space tourism operator. It
is envisaged that Virgin Galactic will open for business by the
beginning of 2005 and subject to the necessary safety and
regulatory approvals begin operating flights from 2007. The name
was first registered and trade mark protection applied for in the
mid 1990s. It is expected that around GBP 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. 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 GBP 115,000 ($190,000). Virgin will reinvest the
proceeds in developing a new generation of vehicles for further
space ventures. To date the cheapest space tourism experiences in
government built and taxpayer funded spaceships cost over
$15,000,000 per seat.
As a prelude to these exciting developments Virgin is also very
pleased to have agreed terms to sponsor SpaceShipOne on its
historic Ansari X Prize flights later this week and in early
October.
"We've always had a
dream of developing a space tourism business," said Sir Richard,
"and Paul Allen's vision, combined with Burt Rutan's technological
brilliance, have brought that dream a step closer to reality. The
deals with both their companies, being announced today, are just
the start of what we believe will be a new era in the history of
mankind, making the affordable exploration of space by human beings
real. We hope to create thousands of astronauts over the next few
years and bring alive their dream of seeing the majestic beauty of
our planet from above, the stars in all their glory and the amazing
sensation of weightlessness. The development will also allow every
country in the world to have their own astronauts rather than the
privileged few."
"I backed the development of SpaceShipOne because I saw this as
a great opportunity to demonstrate that space exploration could
someday be within the reach of private citizens," said Allen.
"Today's deal with Virgin represents the next stage in the
evolution of the SpaceShipOne concept, and will likely be the first
of a number of deals that will utilize the technology developed
during its creation. I am very happy to have Virgin and Richard
Branson as sponsors of our X-Prize attempt and excited about space
tourism."
Rutan was thrilled. "Apart from building SpaceShipOne for Paul
and then watching it fly to space on June 21st this is one of the
most exciting days of my life. Our June space flight was flown with
several new technologies that address both the cost and safety of
manned space flight. These, combined with the lessons learned from
our SpaceShipOne research program, will enable us to develop the
finest suborbital operational systems possible. I am looking
forward to getting started on the development program and the
opportunity to work with Virgin on taking Paul Allen's vision to
the next stage."
Virgin Galactic hopes to formally commence the contractual and
design phase of the project after the conclusion of the Ansari
X-Prize flights September 29th and October 4th. Construction of the
first spaceship, the "VSS ENTERPRISE," is set to begin in 2005.