Space
Virgin Galactic Takes A Step Forward Towards Sending Visitors To Space
Sam D
First Posted: Aug 03, 2016 06:32 AM EDT
Virgin Galactic may have started on the wrong foot about two years ago when the first prototype of its SpaceShipTwo spacecraft faced a mishap, and the test flight was unsuccessful. However, that was the past, and now Virgin Galactic has confirmed that it has received a new operator license from the Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Commercial Space Transportation (FAA-CST) for its SpaceShipTwo craft.
Getting a new license is akin to a new lease of life for Virgin Galactic, and it will commence with test flights again. August 1 saw the new SpaceShipTwo craft performing a taxi test, however Virgin has still not announced when the actual first flight test will take place. "The granting of our operator license is an important milestone for Virgin Galactic, as is our first taxi test for our new spaceship," said Mike Moses, Virgin Galactic senior vice president of operations. "While we still have much work ahead to fully test this spaceship in flight, I am confident that our world-class team is up to the challenge."
The goal of Virgin Galactic is to reportedly use the SpaceShipTwo craft to send satellites into space by 2017, and eventually shuttle tourists. According to reports, Katy Perry, Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt and Stephen Hawking are some of the celebrities in line who are interested in making the space flight and are currently in queue for the $250,000 flights. As per Reuters, there is already a lineup of 700 people who have deposited the required sum needed for the flights.
Representatives from Virgin Galactic believe that space travel would become a fairly common phenomenon in the near future; with the number of space travelers will reach thousands. Incidentally, Virgin Galactic has received a funding of $600 million from Richard Branson, founder of the company, as well as from Aabar Investments Group which is the sovereign wealth fund of Abu Dhabi.
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First Posted: Aug 03, 2016 06:32 AM EDT
Virgin Galactic may have started on the wrong foot about two years ago when the first prototype of its SpaceShipTwo spacecraft faced a mishap, and the test flight was unsuccessful. However, that was the past, and now Virgin Galactic has confirmed that it has received a new operator license from the Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Commercial Space Transportation (FAA-CST) for its SpaceShipTwo craft.
Getting a new license is akin to a new lease of life for Virgin Galactic, and it will commence with test flights again. August 1 saw the new SpaceShipTwo craft performing a taxi test, however Virgin has still not announced when the actual first flight test will take place. "The granting of our operator license is an important milestone for Virgin Galactic, as is our first taxi test for our new spaceship," said Mike Moses, Virgin Galactic senior vice president of operations. "While we still have much work ahead to fully test this spaceship in flight, I am confident that our world-class team is up to the challenge."
The goal of Virgin Galactic is to reportedly use the SpaceShipTwo craft to send satellites into space by 2017, and eventually shuttle tourists. According to reports, Katy Perry, Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt and Stephen Hawking are some of the celebrities in line who are interested in making the space flight and are currently in queue for the $250,000 flights. As per Reuters, there is already a lineup of 700 people who have deposited the required sum needed for the flights.
Representatives from Virgin Galactic believe that space travel would become a fairly common phenomenon in the near future; with the number of space travelers will reach thousands. Incidentally, Virgin Galactic has received a funding of $600 million from Richard Branson, founder of the company, as well as from Aabar Investments Group which is the sovereign wealth fund of Abu Dhabi.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone