Virgin to build commercial spaceships

[Guest Glenn]

From correspondents in Chicago

 

July 28, 2005

 

BRITISH tycoon Sir Richard Branson has formed an aerospace company to build a fleet of commercial spaceships.

 

The Spaceship Co will be jointly owned by Sir Richard Virgin Group and Burt Rutan, whose SpaceShipOne won the $US10 million ($13.25 million) "X Prize" for sending a privately designed craft into space twice in two weeks.

 

The first flights are scheduled for 2008 and will cost $US200,000. Virgin said it hoped to bring the cost down as the hardware developed.

 

"Like many millions of people growing up in the 60s who witnessed the wonder of man walking on the moon ? I dreamt that one day I too would make that 'one small step'," Sir Richard said.

 

"Unfortunately though, over the last three decades, many people gave up hope. Luckily people like Burt Rutan never did. His vision has allowed people, like me, to dream again."

 

Under the deal, Virgin Galactic has placed orders for five of Rutan's SpaceShipTwo and two of his White Knight Two launch systems with options on further systems. It has also secured the exclusive use of the systems for the initial 18 months of commercial passenger operations.

 

"Richard and I share a vision that commercially-viable and safe space tourism will provide the foundation for the human colonisation of space," Mr Rutan said in the statement.

 

"This will truly herald an era of personal spaceflight first described by the visionary science fiction writers of the 1940s and 1950s."