Tag Archives: Virgin Galactic

Branson Craft Lands After Touching “Edge Of Space”

The Washington Post reports: For 20 years, Richard Branson has yearned to ride his spaceplane to the edge of space. On Sunday, he did it. The suborbital trip gave the British billionaire, his three crewmates and two pilots a glimpse of the Earth from more than 50 miles up and a few minutes of weightlessness before the vehicle they were …

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LIVE VIDEO: Virgin Galactic’s First Commercial Flight

ABC News reports: Richard Branson will boldly go where no space baron has gone before on Sunday, when he steps onto the supersonic space plane from his rocket venture, Virgin Galactic. Branson’s brief joy ride is more than two decades in the making. He founded Virgin Galactic in 2004 with the goal of creating a winged spacecraft capable of taking …

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Space Race: Branson To Launch Days Ahead Of Bezos

CNBC reports: Virgin Galactic announced on Thursday that the space tourism company will attempt to launch its next test spaceflight on July 11, carrying founder Sir Richard Branson. Branson is aiming to beat fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos to space, as the latter plans to launch with his own company, Blue Origin, on July 20. “After more than 16 years of …

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FAA Okays Virgin Galactic For Passenger Spaceflights

CNBC reports: Virgin Galactic announced Friday that the Federal Aviation Administration granted the company the license it needs to fly passengers on future spaceflights, a key hurdle as the venture completes development testing. “The commercial license that we have had in place since 2016 remains in place, but is now cleared to allow us to carry commercial passengers when we’re …

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Virgin Galactic Takes First Passenger On Suborbital Test

Engadget reports: Virgin Galactic sent its first test passenger into sub-space today. The company’s chief astronaut instructor Beth Moses accompanied two pilots on a flight 55.85 miles above the Earth, just a few miles below the internationally recognized space boundary, 62 miles. This will likely come as good news to the more than 600 people from 58 countries who have …

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CALIFORNIA: Virgin Galactic Spaceship Crashes In Mojave Desert On Test Flight

It’s been a horrible week for the space industry.

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Facebook Twins In Space

From the Winklevoss twins’ blog: Humans have a long tradition of exploring and forging new frontiers, both physically and metaphorically. In the Middle Ages, Marco Polo’s writings – which recounted his 24 years of travel and trade on the Silk Road – built a new and lasting level of economic and cultural awareness between Europe and Asia. 200 years later, …

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Virgin Galactic Makes Test Flight

Via the Los Angeles Times: Virgin Galactic, British billionaire Richard Branson’s commercial space venture, reached its highest altitude yet Friday in a supersonic rocket plane that’s set to carry paying customers into sub-orbit later this year. The company’s SpaceShipTwo blasted through the sound barrier and sped to Mach 1.4, climbing to 71,000 feet in its first powered test flight of …

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Lady Gaga To Sing In Space

Lady Gaga has booked a ticket on Virgin Galactic and will perform a song from low-orbit in 2015. Seriously. The “Dope” performer, 27, is set to blast off in a Virgin Galactic ship and belt out a single track during the Zero G Colony high-tech musical festival in New Mexico. “She has to do a month of vocal training because …

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Virgin Galactic Unveils World’s First Commercial Passenger Spaceship

Yesterday Virgin Galactic publicly unveiled the world’s first commercial passenger spacecraft, which can take six passengers and two pilots into suborbital flight. The passenger capsule is suspended between two more traditional aircraft which will carry the vehicle into the upper atmosphere before releasing it. Already 300 people have paid a total of $40M for the less than ten minute flight. …

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Spaceman Sullenberger?

US Airways Flight 1549 pilot Chesley Sullenberger, who with his crew was honored on the field before yesterday’s Super Bowl, has a high-flying offer from Richard Branson. U.S. Airways better guard Capt. Chesley Sullenberger 3rd. Virgin Air billionaire Richard Branson wants to poach the “Miracle on the Hudson” pilot. “I’d like him to come fly for us,” Branson tell us. …

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