$208,000 for a Ticket into ...Space! A Turning Point in Space exploration.

Posted on Tue, Sep. 28, 2004




It's the market system that will develop space travel imho.







Airline mogul plans to offer commercial space flights by '07

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald...9776962.htm?1c


Richard Branson's Virgin Group signed a deal to build the world's first private
spaceship to go into commercial operating service. The craft will be based on Burt
Raton's design for SpaceShipOne.

BY JILL LAWLESS

Associated Press


LONDON - Airline mogul and adventurer Richard Branson announced plans Monday to boldly
go where no private transport company has gone before -- into space.

Branson's Virgin Group said it would offer commercial space flights by 2007, with
Branson himself joining the inaugural journey.

The bid is a natural for Branson, a high school dropout turned flamboyant tycoon who
has made several failed attempts to circle the world by hot-air balloon.

''It's just the kind of thing he absolutely loves, because it gets him maximum
publicity,'' said David Learmount, operations and safety editor of Flight
International magazine.

''But the technology is there; it's plausible,'' Learmount said.

Branson, 54, announced a deal to license technology from Mojave Aerospace Ventures,
the firm owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen that bankrolled June's historic
90-minute space flight by the aircraft SpaceShipOne. The Virgin craft will be based on
Burt Rutan's design for SpaceShipOne, a stubby rocket-plane capable of carrying a
pilot and two passengers.

''Virgin has been in talks with Paul Allen and Burt throughout this year and in the
early hours of Saturday, signed a historical deal to license SpaceShipOne's technology
to build the world's first private spaceship to go into commercial operating
service,'' Branson told a news conference in London.

SpaceShipOne cracked the barrier to manned commercial space flight in June by taking a
90-minute flight almost 62 miles above Earth, just over the distance scientists widely
consider to be the boundary of space.

Virgin said it planned to begin construction of the first vessel, VSS Enterprise, next
year and to offer flights by 2007.

The new service will be called Virgin Galactic and expects to fly 3,000 new astronauts
in its first five years. Fares will start at $208,000 for a two- to three-hour
suborbital flight, including three days' training.

"Curious-yellow" wrote in message
...
The new service will be called Virgin Galactic and expects to fly 3,000
new astronauts
in its first five years. Fares will start at $208,000 for a two- to
three-hour
suborbital flight, including three days' training.

Is that price really so bad? It is, after all, a full two orders of
magnitude cheaper than the going price for an orbital flight. Based on the
survey results, I think they've reached a price point where the very rich
will find this an affordable price for "the ultimate thrill ride".

Jeff
--
Remove icky phrase from email address to get a valid address.

In sci.space.policy Jeff Findley wrote:

"Curious-yellow" wrote in message
...
The new service will be called Virgin Galactic and expects to fly 3,000
new astronauts
in its first five years. Fares will start at $208,000 for a two- to
three-hour
suborbital flight, including three days' training.

Is that price really so bad? It is, after all, a full two orders of
magnitude cheaper than the going price for an orbital flight. Based on the
survey results, I think they've reached a price point where the very rich
will find this an affordable price for "the ultimate thrill ride".

Though about an order of magnitude more expensive per second.

"Ian Stirling" wrote in message
...
In sci.space.policy Jeff Findley wrote:
Is that price really so bad? It is, after all, a full two orders of
magnitude cheaper than the going price for an orbital flight. Based on
the
survey results, I think they've reached a price point where the very
rich
will find this an affordable price for "the ultimate thrill ride".

Though about an order of magnitude more expensive per second.

You get that at theme parks today. There's a ride at PKI that costs maybe
$20 per person (on top of general admission) and lasts maybe a minute. All
this ride does is slingshot you into the air and bounce you around a bit
(you're riding in a spherical cage, strapped into a seat). People still
pay.

People will sometimes pay quite a bit of money for a short thrill.
Skydiving is another example of a "hobby" that isn't cheap and the "ride" is
short.

Clearly, suborbital flights will be limited to the very wealthy, but what's
$200k on a single "vacation" to a person who makes over $1 million a year?

Jeff
--
Remove icky phrase from email address to get a valid address.

"Curious-yellow" wrote in message ...
Posted on Tue, Sep. 28, 2004




It's the market system that will develop space travel imho.

If I were filthy rich, I would take advantage of this in a heartbeat.







Airline mogul plans to offer commercial space flights by '07

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald...9776962.htm?1c


Richard Branson's Virgin Group signed a deal to build the world's first private
spaceship to go into commercial operating service. The craft will be based on Burt
Raton's design for SpaceShipOne.

BY JILL LAWLESS

Associated Press


LONDON - Airline mogul and adventurer Richard Branson announced plans Monday to boldly
go where no private transport company has gone before -- into space.

Branson's Virgin Group said it would offer commercial space flights by 2007, with
Branson himself joining the inaugural journey.

The bid is a natural for Branson, a high school dropout turned flamboyant tycoon who
has made several failed attempts to circle the world by hot-air balloon.

''It's just the kind of thing he absolutely loves, because it gets him maximum
publicity,'' said David Learmount, operations and safety editor of Flight
International magazine.

''But the technology is there; it's plausible,'' Learmount said.

Branson, 54, announced a deal to license technology from Mojave Aerospace Ventures,
the firm owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen that bankrolled June's historic
90-minute space flight by the aircraft SpaceShipOne. The Virgin craft will be based on
Burt Rutan's design for SpaceShipOne, a stubby rocket-plane capable of carrying a
pilot and two passengers.

''Virgin has been in talks with Paul Allen and Burt throughout this year and in the
early hours of Saturday, signed a historical deal to license SpaceShipOne's technology
to build the world's first private spaceship to go into commercial operating
service,'' Branson told a news conference in London.

SpaceShipOne cracked the barrier to manned commercial space flight in June by taking a
90-minute flight almost 62 miles above Earth, just over the distance scientists widely
consider to be the boundary of space.

Virgin said it planned to begin construction of the first vessel, VSS Enterprise, next
year and to offer flights by 2007.

The new service will be called Virgin Galactic and expects to fly 3,000 new astronauts
in its first five years. Fares will start at $208,000 for a two- to three-hour
suborbital flight, including three days' training.

Chuck Lysaght wrote:

"Curious-yellow" wrote in message ...
Posted on Tue, Sep. 28, 2004




It's the market system that will develop space travel imho.

If I were filthy rich, I would take advantage of this in a heartbeat.


You're halfway there.

"Curious-yellow" wrote in message ...

Virgin said it planned to begin construction of the first vessel, VSS Enterprise, next
year and to offer flights by 2007.

The new service will be called Virgin Galactic and expects to fly 3,000 new astronauts
in its first five years. Fares will start at $208,000 for a two- to three-hour
suborbital flight, including three days' training.

Assuming Branson is serious, what is required?
Assuming a design similar to SpaceshipOne, we have 2
passengers/flight. With 3,000 passengers over 5 years, we need 300
flights/year. If turnaround time remains 2 weeks per ship, we need at
least 6 ships in the fleet. I think Paul Allen spent about $20
million developing SpaceshipOne (anyone know what each engine costs?)
so assume it will cost about $10 million to build each new ship, with
operating costs unknown, but let's say $100,000/flight. Shall we
build an extra plane to carry the ships? Say another $10 million.

So Branson would spend about $70 million to build the ships and jet,
another $150 million in operating costs over the 5 years or 1,500
flights, and gross $624 million over the 5 years. He'd net about $400
million or $80 million/year. Not bad.

"Bill Bogen" wrote in message
om...
"Curious-yellow" wrote in message
...

Virgin said it planned to begin construction of the first vessel, VSS
Enterprise, next
year and to offer flights by 2007.

The new service will be called Virgin Galactic and expects to fly 3,000
new astronauts
in its first five years. Fares will start at $208,000 for a two- to
three-hour
suborbital flight, including three days' training.

Assuming Branson is serious, what is required?
Assuming a design similar to SpaceshipOne, we have 2
passengers/flight.

The news article on CNN says, "passengers in groups of five", so if this is
right, you'd need less Spaceship Two's than Spaceship One's.

However, CNN also screwed up and said "into orbit" instead of "into space".
Later in the article, their description of the flight is clearly suborbital,
with the description, "there would be just four to five minutes of
weightlessness". You clearly get more time weightless than that if you
orbit the earth even once!

Jeff
--
Remove icky phrase from email address to get a valid address.

In article , Bill
Bogen wrote:
He'd net about $400
million or $80 million/year. Not bad.

Few people have called Branson a fool. A twit, a fashion victim,
and a dribbling idiot, but when it comes to money, he's not a fool.

--
Aidan Karley,
Aberdeen, Scotland,
Location: 57°10'11" N, 02°08'43" W (sub-tropical Aberdeen), 0.021233

Ian Stirling wrote:

In sci.space.policy Jeff Findley wrote:

"Curious-yellow" wrote in message
...
The new service will be called Virgin Galactic and expects to fly 3,000
new astronauts
in its first five years. Fares will start at $208,000 for a two- to
three-hour
suborbital flight, including three days' training.

Is that price really so bad? It is, after all, a full two orders of
magnitude cheaper than the going price for an orbital flight. Based on the
survey results, I think they've reached a price point where the very rich
will find this an affordable price for "the ultimate thrill ride".

Though about an order of magnitude more expensive per second.

NASCAR is another order of magnitude still, but they give you a
bottle of champagne.
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