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Virgin Galactic is a company within Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group, which plans to offer sub-orbital spaceflights and later orbital spaceflights to the paying public.
Mission Virgin Galactic plans to fly 500 passengers a year at about US$200,000 each, to an altitude of over 100 km, with a total weightless time of 7 minutes. Only about 500 people have been off the planet and gained their astronaut wings since spaceflight began in the 1960s, and even fewer have orbited the Earth. Current commercial flights to space, provided by the Russian Space Agency, cost roughly US$20 million for a six-day orbital flight. Spacecraft
Bookings Branson has suggested an initial ticket price of US$200,000 for a suborbital tourist flight, including a week of flight training. Following an email survey sent to a Virgin Galactic mailing-list, including the question, "Would you consider putting down a deposit for a ride when we are ready for you to do so?", the company has stated that at this price they estimate a market of between 7,000 and 15,000 potential passengers (a claim disputed by some), to fly over a five-year period starting as early as 2008. Furthermore, they believe that over a five-year period only 5,000 passengers would be needed in order to be profitable. Profits from early flights would be reinvested to make space tourism more affordable. Among those reported to have told Branson that they wished to be among the first to fly on the spacecraft are Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro, Alien star Sigourney Weaver, Hollywood director Bryan Singer, Musician Moby, and Paris Hilton. Richard Branson himself, as well as a select few of his close family members will blast off on the first commercial flight of the VSS Enterprise in 2008. In March 2005, Doug Ramsberg, a native of Northglenn, Colorado, won a free trip to suborbital space aboard Virgin Galactic, from a Volvo sweepstakes sponsored by Virgin. On April 20 2005, Virgin Galactic president Will Whitehorn told a U.S. congressional hearing that 100 people had put down $20,000 deposits for their space flights. In September 2006, Alan Watts, a British businessman, indicated that he was able to redeem 2,000,000 frequent flyer miles for a ticket aboard a 2009 Virgin Galactic space flight.• Flight personnel and training At the 2005 Oshkosh Airshow, it was stated that Virgin Galactic had received over 4000 applications for the role of spaceship pilot. Approximately 75 pilots will be required to operate the SpaceShipTwo fleet.• The first announcements regarding Virgin Galactic flight personnel were made in late March 2006.• Virgin Galactic flight training will last twenty-seven months: pilots will receive nine months of aerobatic, fast jet and executive jet training to prepare them for zero gravity flight. The next nine months will be spent in flying the White Knight Two mothership and participating in Mission Control work. The final nine months will be spent flying Virgin Galactic spacecraft into space. From 2008, Virgin Galactic expects to have around thirty astronaut pilots recruited from the various Virgin Group airlines, trained with NASA assistance.• Spaceports On December 13 2005, Branson announced that Virgin Galactic would undertake a joint venture with the New Mexico state government to construct Spaceport America, a $225 million facility to be located near Upham, New Mexico. The venture was approved by the state legislature and the funding plans signed into law by governor Bill Richardson on March 1, 2006. Virgin Galactic will be the first customer to operate manned spacecraft from this facility. The current and only spaceport is at Mojave, California. Flights internationally land at John Wayne International Airport (Orange County Airport) at Santa Ana/Irvine, CA and are taken to Mojave. Virgin is also considering launches from Scotland• and northern Sweden from Esrange, the latter being particularly suitable for in-flight views of the aurora borealis. It was announced in August 2006 that Virgin Galactic was also considering RAF St. Mawgan in Cornwall as a possible contender for a launch site. RAF St. Mawgan at present faces an uncertain future because of next year's withdrawal of the Ministry of Defence.• Branson has also said that Cape Canaveral's Kennedy Space Center could serve as an East Coast spaceport. Spacecraft Technology SpaceShipOne: The craft will reach a speed of approx. 2500mph as it is heading for space. The craft uses a hybrid motor, which gives off virtually no pollution. A feathered re-entry system is on all of the SpaceShips, allowing a safer re-entry without the need of having to depend on heat shields - unlike the dated NASA Space Shuttles. SpaceShipTwo will carry 6 passengers and 2 astronauts. In the future, it is believed the space vehicles will be bigger, and be able to carry more passengers. More details on the technical specifications of the spaceships will be available on here when official data has been released. The ships are being built by Scaled Composites, at the Mojave Spaceport in California, USA. Insurance Virgin Galactic is in negotiations with Lloyd's of London for flight insurance. This will cover risks to people and structures on the ground near the launch site. Passengers on suborbital flights are expected to travel at their own risk, at least initially. Future plans According to the Virgin Galactic website, Branson has plans for orbital space tourism and proposes putting a hotel in space. It is expected that some of the future spacecraft will be able to dock with a space hotel. Competition There are numerous other companies actively working on commercial passenger suborbital spaceflight (see: Private spaceflight). Virgin Galactic's most likely competitors include Rocketplane Kistler, Space Adventures, and Benson Space Company. Trivia In the 2006 movie Superman Returns, during the maiden flight of a new fictional commercial Space Shuttle the Virgin Galactic brand can be seen in the inflight presentation. One of the shuttle pilots is portrayed by Sir Richard Branson himself. The movie's director, Bryan Singer, is amongst those reported to want to fly on the real Virgin Galactic maiden flight. In the News Virgin Galactic has been praised a lot in the news, and on various websites. Technology websites have been complimenting the new spaceline from day one. On average, the public seem to be fascinated by the new spaceline - and many people are wanting to go once the ticket price drops. See also Affiliated Corporations News Articles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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