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

I Lurk Alone wrote:

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.

Aw, gee, half a heart.
He can beat you into space with a can of Sterno and a Dumpster,
just as soon as he learns how to use a match.
--
-------(m+
~/)_|
The most essential gift for a good writer is
a built-in, shock-proof, **** detector. -- Hemingway
http://scrawlmark.org

Aidan Karley wrote in message idated...
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.

The problem with Branson is he is a great publicity merchant who
launches endless businesses, unfortunately quite a lot of them are
quietly folded a little while later. Hopefully VG won't be one of
these.

A classic is Virgin Mobile - great success in the UK, but a disaster
in a load of other markets where he's shut up shop.

Apart from on the airline I can't remember the last time I saw Virgin
Cola for sale.

Dave

(Bill Bogen) wrote in message . com...
"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.

Oops. Correction: The fleet would require 12 ships, not 6, so it might
cost $130 million for the new ships and jet, $150 million in operating
costs, for a total of $280 million over 5 years. So he'd net $344
million/5 years or about $69 million/year. Still not bad.

A prediction: They'll build one or two ships, fly a couple hundred
people, and establish there's a market for the service. Someone
(Pioneer?) will then get funding to design and build a bigger, faster,
liquid-fueled ship, perhaps exceeding the capacity of a jet to
air-launch the ship and going to in-flight refueling, as originally
proposed by Mitchell Burnside Clapp. Then we might squeak into orbit.

"Jeff Findley" wrote:
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?

$200k is expensive as hell for a short thrill ride at that income
level.

*However*, if the ride is the culmination of a week of 'training' and
events leading up to the flight... The picture changes.

D.
--
Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.

"Derek Lyons" wrote in message
...
"Jeff Findley" wrote:
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?

$200k is expensive as hell for a short thrill ride at that income
level.

*However*, if the ride is the culmination of a week of 'training' and
events leading up to the flight... The picture changes.

I'm sure that's what it will be. In addition to the physical, I'm sure
they'll have fun by taking a ride on a centrifuge to simulate the
acceleration of launch. Perhaps they'll carry parachutes, and will need
training to use them.

Then there's the simulated flight that would show video from screens outside
the portholes (fly one test flight with cameras pointing out all the
portholes and you've got video to simulate the flight).

In addition, I'm sure there are lots of other "fun" things they could
"borrow" from Space Camp and present them as training.

Doing all of this "training" on the ground should cost a fraction of that
$200k, but add greatly to the overall experience.

Jeff

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

In article , Derek Lyons
wrote:

"Jeff Findley" wrote:
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?

$200k is expensive as hell for a short thrill ride at that income
level.

*However*, if the ride is the culmination of a week of 'training' and
events leading up to the flight... The picture changes.

Make deals with studios so the customers can go up dressed in authentic
SF outfits (Star Trek, Babylon 5, Gundam, etc) or NASA gear and it
changes again Hell, can you imagine the fantasy camp/ roleplaying
possibilities?

--
Chris Mack "Refugee, total ****. That's how I've always seen us.
'Invid Fan' Not a help, you'll admit, to agreement between us."
-'Deal/No Deal', CHESS

(Bill Bogen) wrote in message
A prediction: They'll build one or two ships, fly a couple hundred
people, and establish there's a market for the service. Someone
(Pioneer?) will then get funding to design and build a bigger, faster,
liquid-fueled ship, perhaps exceeding the capacity of a jet to
air-launch the ship and going to in-flight refueling, as originally
proposed by Mitchell Burnside Clapp. Then we might squeak into orbit.

I like Pioneer's concept but; Why would anybody go with a new unproven
company after Mojave Aerospace Ventures (Rutan/Allen) successfully
flew SS1 & VSS with a "couple hundred people"? Have the experts build
SS3 to the customer's (Funding Source) requirements such as airport
take off, jet engines, liquid rockets.

K2

On 30 Sep 2004 12:10:13 -0700, in a place far, far away,
(k2) made the phosphor on my monitor glow in such a way
as to indicate that:

I like Pioneer's concept but; Why would anybody go with a new unproven
company after Mojave Aerospace Ventures (Rutan/Allen) successfully
flew SS1 & VSS with a "couple hundred people"?

Because it might be a better, more economical concept? Just because
someone is first, doesn't meant that they're best. By your reasoning,
no other air transports should or would have been built after the
Fokker Tri-Motor.

I Lurk Alone wrote in message ...
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.

At least I don't hide behind a phony e-mail account.

In article ,
Chuck Lysaght said:

I Lurk Alone wrote in message ...
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.

At least I don't hide behind a phony e-mail account.

With weird-ass perverts like you, Pedo-Chuck,
roaming USENET, using a bogus e-mail address
is a wise decision and an absolute necessity.

--
Cm~