RNCollins
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- Jan 2, 2016
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After decade of hype, space tourism might be ready to launch
https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Airline-News/Space-tourism-might-be-ready-to-launch
By Jeri Clausing / Aviation / Travel Weekly / travelweekly.com / March 11, 2019
“Fifteen years after Richard Branson launched Virgin Galactic and his ambitious plans for taking tourists into space, the billionaire entrepreneur's much-delayed dream finally appears to be close to reality.
Virgin Galactic last month logged its second successful manned flight into space, and the head of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) predicted the industry could see the launch of space tourism as early as this summer.
"It's going to be an interesting year," said CSF president Eric Stallmer. "I'm not sure if we're supposed to use the word 'race,' but it will be an interesting effort to see who will be the first to bring passengers up, whether it will be Virgin or [Amazon founder Jeff Bezos'] Blue Origin. But Virgin is doing all the things right that they're supposed to do, and I think they are looking strong for possibly this summer bringing up passengers."
A third contender in the commercial space race, Elon Musk's SpaceX, is also making progress. Earlier this month, it successfully launched the first American spacecraft since the retirement of the space shuttles that is capable of carrying passengers. That effort, however, currently is focused on carrying astronauts to the International Space Station rather than on space tourism. And Stallmer estimates that Musk's plan to launch a passenger into orbit around the moon is still a few years away....”
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' company called Blue Origins, launching rocket New Shepard taking off on Mission NS-10 - January 23, 2019
Photo: https://www.blueorigin.com/
https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Airline-News/Space-tourism-might-be-ready-to-launch
By Jeri Clausing / Aviation / Travel Weekly / travelweekly.com / March 11, 2019
“Fifteen years after Richard Branson launched Virgin Galactic and his ambitious plans for taking tourists into space, the billionaire entrepreneur's much-delayed dream finally appears to be close to reality.
Virgin Galactic last month logged its second successful manned flight into space, and the head of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) predicted the industry could see the launch of space tourism as early as this summer.
"It's going to be an interesting year," said CSF president Eric Stallmer. "I'm not sure if we're supposed to use the word 'race,' but it will be an interesting effort to see who will be the first to bring passengers up, whether it will be Virgin or [Amazon founder Jeff Bezos'] Blue Origin. But Virgin is doing all the things right that they're supposed to do, and I think they are looking strong for possibly this summer bringing up passengers."
A third contender in the commercial space race, Elon Musk's SpaceX, is also making progress. Earlier this month, it successfully launched the first American spacecraft since the retirement of the space shuttles that is capable of carrying passengers. That effort, however, currently is focused on carrying astronauts to the International Space Station rather than on space tourism. And Stallmer estimates that Musk's plan to launch a passenger into orbit around the moon is still a few years away....”
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' company called Blue Origins, launching rocket New Shepard taking off on Mission NS-10 - January 23, 2019
Photo: https://www.blueorigin.com/