Virgin Signs Deal With SpaceShipOne Designer
POSTED: Monday, September 27, 2004
A ticket may soon be all that separates you from a dream voyage to the final frontier.
British entrepreneur Richard Branson said Virgin company -- which includes an airline -- plans to start offering commercial space flights over the next few years.
He said he's signed a deal with pioneering aviation designer Burt Rutan to build an aircraft based on Rutan's SpaceShipOne vessel that recently became the first manned, private vehicle to go into space.Branson called the new venture Virgin Galactic and said it will carry 3,000 people to space within five years.A news release said the company will open for business in 2005, and could start flights in 2007.No word on what a ticket to the stars will cost, but he said the company's purpose is to make "space travel more and more affordable."SpaceShipOne is considered the leading contender for the $10 million X-Prize. That award goes to the first civillian team to put three people into space twice in two weeks.In June, Rutan's Scaled Composites -- funded largely by Microsoft millionaire Paul Allen -- had a successful test flight with one person on board. The team is scheduled to begin shooting for the prize Sept. 29, with a repeat flight in early October.Allen's Mojave Aerospace owns the rights to the designs. In a news release on Scaled Composite's Web site, the company asid the deal could be wirth $21.5 million of the next 15 years.
Previous Stories:
- July 27, 2004: SpaceShipOne To Shoot For $10M Prize
- June 21, 2004: Private Company Becomes First To Put Man In Space
- June 20, 2004: Private Space Craft Prepared For Launch
Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Authorities release a chilling 911 call from a 19-year-old woman who hid in the back bedroom of a Central Florida home while four men attempted to break into the house.
An ex-wife of the man who found the remains of Caylee Anthony says that she thought her ex-husband was responsible for or involved in the girl's death.
Five people are dead after a mobile home fire broke out in Central Florida.
Dashcam video shows a Florida woman offering an officer sex instead of getting a ticket.
A 3-year-old boy was left stranded at a commuter train platform when a door on the train malfunctioned, separating the toddler from his dad. A good Samaritan stayed with the child until the father could return. (Nov. 20)
A woman tired of hearing her son say he lost another sock has come up with an idea to prevent it from happening again.
South Carolina police say an obese man died after not moving from his recliner for the past eight months. Police say the man's body was physically stuck to the chair and firefighters had to cut him out. He died a few hours later at the hospital.
An Oregon appeals court has ruled against an Oregon high school teacher who wants to take her gun to class. She has been battling for years and says she needs the gun for protection. (Nov. 20)
Take a quick look at the flicks headed to your multiplex. Check out the trailer, too.
Thirty Victoria's Secret supermodels take over New York's Times Square this week.
Email Alerts
RSS News Feeds
Mobile
Live Streams
Slideshows
Video
Search
