Recent News
October 24, 2024
OCEANSKY CRUISES: PATHFINDER 1 TEST FLIGHT Read More
September 15, 2024
SPACE PERSPECTIVE COMPLETES FLIGHT 2 Read More
June 8, 2024
VSS UNITY COMPLETES FINAL MISSION Read More
December 13, 2023
SPACE PERSPECTIVE'S NEW CAPSULE DESIGN Read More
July 27, 2023
SPACE PERSPECTIVE SELLS 1600 TICKETS Read More
May 25, 2023
VSS UNITY RETURNS TO SPACE Read More
March 7, 2023
LOWERING COST OF SPACE TRAVEL Read More
February 17, 2023
VMS EVE TAKES FLIGHT!! Read More
August 2, 2022
COMING SOON!! ASTRONAUT CAMPUS & TRAINING FACILITY Read More
July 27, 2022
SPACE PERSPECTIVE UNVEILS PATENTED CAPSULE DESIGN Read More
July 6, 2022
VIRGIN GALACTIC ANNOUNCES NEXT GENERATION MOTHERSHIPS Read More
April 12, 2022
SPACE PERSPECTIVE UNVAILS IMAGES OF BALLOON CAPSULE Read More
October 25, 2021
BLUE ORIGIN & SIERRA SPACE DEVELOP SPACE STATION Read More
October 8, 2021
BLUE ORIGIN ASTRONAUT TRAINS WITH DEPREZ TRAVEL Read More
October 1, 2021
DEPREZ CHARTERS ZERO-G AIRCRAFT TO ROCHESTER Read More
August 5, 2021
VIRGIN GALACTIC ANNOUNCES Q2 FINANCIAL RESULTS FOR 2021 Read More
July 15, 2021
DEPREZ TRAVEL AND RMSC ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP Read More
July 15, 2021
MUSK BOOKED SEAT ON VIRGIN GALACTIC Read More
June 25, 2021
FAA OK'S VIRGIN GALACTIC TO LAUNCH CUSTOMERS TO SPACE Read More
June 18, 2021
SPACE PERSPECTIVE CONFIRMS SUCCESSFUL TEST FLIGHT Read More
May 22, 2021
VIRGIN GALACTIC'S FIRST HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT FROM NM Read More
February 25, 2021
VIRGIN GALACTIC ANNOUNCES Q4 HIGHLIGHTS FOR 2020 Read More
November 23, 2020
MEET PILOT CJ STURCKOW Read More
October 27, 2020
VIRGIN GALACTIC HIRES 2 NEW PILOTS Read More
June 22, 2020
VIRGIN GALACTIC SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH NASA Read More
May 1, 2020
VSS UNITY SPACESHIPTWO GOES SOLO IN NEW MEXICO Read More
February 25, 2020
ONE SMALL STEP BEGINS YOUR JOURNEY TO SPACE Read More
February 13, 2020
VSS UNITY MOVES TO SPACEPORT AMERICA Read More
October 16, 2019
YOUR SPACE SUITS HAVE BEEN REVEALED Read More
August 22, 2019
SPACEPORT AMERICA: UNVEILING NEW AREAS Read More
February 22, 2019
VSS UNITY RETURNS TO SPACE WITH 3 ONBOARD Read More
January 7, 2019
NEW MOMENT IN SPACE HISTORY Read More
NASA Finalizes Spaceship Deal With Virgin Galactic
|
|
|---|
NASA Finalizes $4.5 Million Private Spaceship Deal With Virgin Galactic
November 17, 2011 -Virgin Galactic has been selected to provide U.S.-based NASA with up to three charter flights on SpaceShipTwo, under a contract with a value of up to $4.5m.
The new, private, space travel program is expected to provide opportunities for engineers, technologists and scientists to conduct cutting-edge experiments in suborbital space. These research flights are regarded as an important milestone for Virgin Galactic, who have recently announced the appointment of Mike Moses, who is NASA's former Space Shuttle Program Chief, as Vice-President of Operations.
"We are excited to be working with NASA to provide the research community with this opportunity to carry out experiments in space," stated George Whitesides, President and CEO of Virgin Galactic.
"An enormous range of disciplines can benefit from access to space, but historically, such research opportunities have been rare and expensive. At Virgin Galactic, we are fully dedicated to revolutionizing access to space, both for tourist astronauts and, through programs like this, for researchers," he added.
Generally referred to as a space tourism company, Virgin Galactic, according to a release from the company, has already collected more than $58 million in deposits from 455 future tourist astronauts, providing researchers access to space. Their experiments are viewed by Virgin Galactic as both a future mission segment and a significant business opportunity. Each mission allows for up to 1,300 lbs of scientific experiments, which could enable up to 600 experimental payloads per flight.
Virgin Galactic will provide a Flight Test Engineer on every flight to monitor and interact with experiments as necessary, a capability that has never before been available on suborbital vehicles. If requested, these experiments can be quickly accessed after landing, a feature critical to many types of experiments.
#####
About Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic, owned by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and Aabar Investments PJS, is on track to be the world’s first commercial spaceline. The new spaceship (SpaceshipTwo, VSS Enterprise) and carrier craft (WhiteKnightTwo, VMS Eve) have both been developed for Virgin Galactic by Mojave-based Scaled Composites. Founded by Burt Rutan, Scaled developed SpaceShipOne, which in 2004 claimed the $10m Ansari X Prize as the world’s first privately developed manned spacecraft. Virgin Galactic’s new vehicles share much of the same basic design, but are being built to carry six customers on sub-orbital space flights, allowing an out-of-the-seat, zero-gravity experience and offering astounding views of the planet from the black sky of space. The VSS Enterprise and VMS Eve test flight program is well under way, leading to Virgin Galactic commercial operations, which will be based at Spaceport America in New Mexico.
For More Information Please Contact:
CRAIG CURRAN , ASA
Galactic Experiences By DePrez, DePrez Travel Bureau, Inc.
585-442-8900 X224
