spacetoday.net: Virgin to use SpaceShipOne technology for tourist flights

Posted: Mon, Sep 27, 2004, 11:30 AM ET (1530 GMT)
SpaceShipOne in Virgin livery (Virgin Galactic)

Virgin Group, the conglomerate of businesses owned by billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson, announced Monday that it has partnered with Mojave Aerospace Ventures to use technology developed for SpaceShipOne for commercial suborbital tourist flights. At a press conference in London Branson announced that Virgin Galactic, a new Virgin subsidiary, will license the SpaceShipOne technology for new passenger vehicles; which will be built by Scaled Composites under a separate deal. The vehicles will be based on the SpaceShipOne design but will able to hold five passengers; the first such vehicle, named Virgin SpaceShip (VSS) Enterprise, will enter commercial service around 2007. Initial ticket costs for the flight, including three days of pre-flight training, will cost $190,000. The flights will initially take place from Mojave Airport in California, where SpaceShipOne currently flies, but Branson said he also wanted to carry out flights from other locations, including in Britain and Australia. The licensing deal will cost Virgin up to $21.5 million over 15 years, depending on the number of vehicles built; the company plans to invest up to $100 million into the new venture. Profits from the Virgin Galactic suborbital flights will be reinvested in the company to develop followon vehicles, including eventually orbital craft. Branson, who attended the SpaceShipOne flight into space in June, said he plans to be on the first VSS Enterprise flight.