Branson spacecraft completes test flight

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Andromache

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/space/03/23/virgin.space.flight/?hpt=Sbin

quoted story:
(CNN) -- British billionaire Richard Branson's dream of space travel that thousands of people can afford took a leap toward reality with the maiden flight of the world's first commercial spacecraft over California's Mojave Desert.

Branson's company Virgin Galactic announced Monday that the VSS Enterprise had successfully completed what it called a captive carry flight attached to a carrier plane.

The spacecraft's developer called it a "momentous day."

"The captive carry flight signifies the start of what we believe will be extremely exciting and successful spaceship flight test program," said Burt Rutan, founder of Scaled Composites, which built the spacecraft.

The VSS Enterprise remained attached to its carrier aircraft for the duration of the 2-hour, 54-minute flight, reaching an altitude of 45,000 feet, according to a statement from Virgin.

Video: Space tourism countdown
Eventually, the 60-foot long rocket plane will be taken 60,000 feet above the Earth by its carrier and fire rockets to propel itself into space.

The test-flight program is expected to continue through 2011, going first to a free glide and then to a powered flight before commercial flights begin.

"Seeing the finished spaceship in December was a major day for us but watching VSS Enterprise fly for the first time really brings home what beautiful, ground-breaking vehicles Burt and his team have developed for us," Branson said.

"Today was another major step along that road and a testament to U.S. engineering and innovation," he said.

Virgin Galactic has envisioned one flight a week, with six tourists aboard. Each will pay $200,000 for the ride and train for at least three days before going. About 80,000 people have placed their names on the waiting list for seats.

"What we want to be able to do is bring space travel down to a price range where hundreds of thousands of people would be able to experience space, and they never dreamed that [they] could," Branson said last year.

He has said he hopes the technology will lead to a new form of Earth travel, jetting people across oceans and continents faster through suborbital routes.
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Yeah, but the fuel costs and the investment make it necessary. This will always be a luxury product - there is no practical purpose to taking a suborbital ballistic flight. It's just AWESOME.
 
K

Kitty Sinatra

Sorry. I specifically mean $200,000 multiplied by 80,000 is a lot of money. I was just rather wrapping my head around the revenue this enterprise will net.
 
Sorry. I specifically mean $200,000 multiplied by 80,000 is a lot of money. I was just rather wrapping my head around the revenue this enterprise will net.
16 billion (or milliard). But how many billion have already been sunk in?
 
Yeah, but the fuel costs and the investment make it necessary. This will always be a luxury product - there is no practical purpose to taking a suborbital ballistic flight. It's just AWESOME.
There's any number of logistical reasons why it's a great idea... trans-global passenger flights comes to mind. However, as you say, at the current level of development it remains but a luxury. Give it some more time, however, and a two-hour hop to Japan won't be such a pipe dream...
 
Yeah, but the fuel costs and the investment make it necessary. This will always be a luxury product - there is no practical purpose to taking a suborbital ballistic flight. It's just AWESOME.
There's any number of logistical reasons why it's a great idea... trans-global passenger flights comes to mind. However, as you say, at the current level of development it remains but a luxury. Give it some more time, however, and a two-hour hop to Japan won't be such a pipe dream...[/QUOTE]

You could have said the same thing about SSTs and the fact of the matter is, they don't fit into the infrastructure of the air travel industry, making them prohibitively expensive.
 
Sorry. I specifically mean $200,000 multiplied by 80,000 is a lot of money. I was just rather wrapping my head around the revenue this enterprise will net.
16 billion (or milliard). But how many billion have already been sunk in?[/QUOTE]

While they spent a lot of money, I don't think they are near the Billion mark yet. They only spent $100 million on the concept that won the $10 million prize.

I am a little shocked. I thought Burt Rutan designed most of his craft on the back of napkins.
 
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