NY Times has an article on “the Space Tourism Race” which is interesting mostly for the following quote:
Will Whitehorn, the president of Virgin Galactic, said that 157 people have put down deposits totaling $12.2 million to fly…
A race gets interesting when folks are funded and bending metal. Paper planes come and go. We can also have an industry without a race.
Unlike the Chinese versus NASA, this is a space race worth taking seriously:
I do wonder if Virgin Galactic/Spaceship Company will accelerate their vehicle development in response to this project if it looks probable that the Explorer vehicles will start flying next year. I think suborbital space tourism business will grow robustly beyond just those who want to claim that they were the “pioneers” in public space travel. In fact, more people will want to go once there have been lots of flights since this will help to demonstrate safe and reliable operation.
Unlike the Chinese versus NASA, this is a space race worth taking seriously:
I do wonder if Virgin Galactic/Spaceship Company will accelerate their vehicle development in response to this project if it looks probable that the Explorer vehicles will start flying next year. I think suborbital space tourism business will grow robustly beyond just those who want to claim that they were the “pioneers” in public space travel. In fact, more people will want to go once there have been lots of flights since this will help to demonstrate safe and reliable operation.
Unlike the Chinese versus NASA, this is a space race worth taking seriously:
I do wonder if Virgin Galactic/Spaceship Company will accelerate their vehicle development in response to this project if it looks probable that the Explorer vehicles will start flying next year. I think suborbital space tourism business will grow robustly beyond just those who want to claim that they were the “pioneers” in public space travel. In fact, more people will want to go once there have been lots of flights since this will help to demonstrate safe and reliable operation.
Jeff Foust asks a question (scroll down about thirty comments):
…should settlement be an explicit goal of the space agency, with programs specifically tailored to that, or should settlement be instead a commercial initiative that is either an outgrowth of, or even completely independent from, government space efforts?
I’ve some thoughts on that, but no time to put them down right now. The comments section is open, however.
The FAA Oklahoma Spaceport Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) is available for download (6 MB). I haven’t read it yet, but I can already say it is very similar to the Mojave Spaceport one. That’s because there is an XCOR Xerus on the front cover. They are soliciting comments and will have a public meeting in Oklahoma on March 9.
Liftport has had a successful test.
From Henry Spencer, over at sci.space.policy:
As various people have pointed out in the past, to judge by the fuss that gets made when a few of them die, astronauts clearly are priceless national assets — exactly the sort of people you should not be risking in an experimental-class vehicle.
I tracked down the cite to the following quote in The Economic Impact of Commercial Space Transportation on the US Economy: 2004.
Recent market studies have shown public space travel has the potential to become a billion dollar industry within 20 years.
It’s the famous 2002 Futron study made public in October 2004. On the bullish side, still no accounting for games. No accounting for $200,000 starting prices (It assumes $100,000) which is bullish for price, bearish for quantity. On the bearish side, still none of the demand flown off. Why am I analyzing 4 year old data when I could be testing the market personally for a little more than the cost of a new study?
A lot of people disparage newcomers to the space field as having “paper rockets.”
Well, at little cost, you can now make your own paper Saturn V. And here’s another company that’s going to be offering a paper MLP and crawler. The pictures are pretty amazing, considering the construction materials.