Within three years Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic hopes to operate
five suborbital seven-passenger space vehicles for adventurous passengers.
To accomplish that mission, Branson and Burt Rutan formed The Spaceship
Company. The new company will own the designs of the new “SpaceShipTwo” and
“White Knight Two,” now in development at Scaled Composites in Mojave,
California. The Spaceship Company will manufacture the launch aircraft,
spaceships, and support equipment, and market it to operators, including
Virgin Galactic. On cue, the first passenger walked forward during a ceremony
at Oshkosh and presented Branson with the $200,000 needed to purchase a
ticket on the rocket. Many celebrities have signed up as well. Virgin figures
that the price will drop to less than $50,000 in a decade or so. But at the
same time, Virgin doesn’t want it to become an experience that only the rich
can afford. Besides donating tickets, Virgin will create an Internet game
where players can win tickets. Virgin also is planning reality TV shows
where young people will get a chance to visit space. Branson said orbiting
hotels and hotels on the moon might not take place during his lifetime, but
certainly during his children’s lifetime.

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