Press Release
Branson
and Rutan Form 'The Spaceship Company'
To Jointly Manufacture and Market Spaceships for the
new
Sub-Orbital Personal Spaceflight Industry
OSHKOSH,
Wis. --July 27, 2005-- Today, Sir Richard Branson
(Founder, Virgin Group of Companies) and Burt Rutan
(President, Scaled Composites) announced their signing
of an agreement to form a new aerospace production
company to build a fleet of commercial sub-orbital
spaceships and launch aircraft. The new company will
own the designs of the new SpaceShipTwo (SS2) and
White Knight Two (WK2) launch systems that are now
in development at Scaled Composites. The SS2/WK2 system
will use the 'Care-free reentry' and the 'cantilevered-hybrid'
rocket motor technology developed for the Ansari X
prize-winning SpaceShipOne (SS1), and will license
that technology from Paul Allen's Mojave Aerospace
company. The Spaceship Company will manufacture the
new launch aircraft, spaceships and support equipment
and market them to spaceline operators, including
the launch customer, Virgin Galactic.
The
Spaceship Company will be jointly owned by Virgin
and Scaled, and will contract Scaled for the research,
development, testing and certification of SS2/WK2.
Burt Rutan will head up the technical development
team.
Burt
Rutan commented: "I am very excited to have agreed
the terms on which we can now move forward to develop
the world's-first commercial, passenger-carrying Spaceships.
This will truly herald an era of personal spaceflight
first described by the visionary science fiction writers
of the 1940's and 1950's. Richard and I share a vision
that commercially-viable and safe space tourism will
provide the foundation for the human colonization
of space. I am looking forward, (actually looking
way up!) to working together with Richard on this
next exciting phase."
Sir
Richard Branson added: "I couldn't be more delighted
to announce the formation of this joint venture at
the biggest private aviation event in the world. Like
many millions of people growing up in the Sixties
who witnessed the wonder of man walking on the moon
- I dreamt that one day I too would make that 'one
small step...'! Unfortunately though, over the last
three decades, many people gave up hope - luckily
people like Burt Rutan never did. His vision has allowed
people, like me, to dream again. But even I never
dreamed as boy, that one day, I would form, with Burt,
the company which will build the world's first commercial
passenger spacecraft!"
In
2001, Paul Allen contracted Scaled Composites for
the research and development of the SS1 system, to
fulfill his vision of flying the world's first privately-developed,
reusable space vehicle. Last year on June 21st, when
Mike Melvill flew SS1 above 100 km altitude, Mr Allen
forever dispelled the myth that manned space flight
was the sole remit of huge Government programs. Then,
on September 27th, Virgin announced the launch of
Virgin Galactic, the world's first commercial space
tourism operator and a new era in space travel was
born. Virgin Galactic was a sponsor for the two successful
X-prize flights completed on October 4th. SpaceShipOne,
the historic, record breaking spacecraft, will be
installed this fall in the Smithsonian National Air
and Space Museum's Milestones of Flight Gallery in
Washington D C.
The
launch customer for this new joint venture between
Virgin Group and Scaled Composites will be Virgin
Galactic, Sir Richard Branson's commercial space tourism
venture. Virgin Galactic has placed orders for five
SS2's and two WK2's, with options on further systems,
thus securing the exclusive use of the systems for
the initial 18 months of commercial passenger operations.
The
Spaceship Company plans to make spaceflight affordable
for the masses and to demonstrate the commercial viability
of manned space exploration. We are dedicated to reaching
that goal with the first generation of spaceship systems
developed for routine, scheduled flight operations.
Those systems will be environmentally friendly and
will include new solutions to optimize both safety
and the passenger experience. We expect that as the
flight hardware matures, and is operated by competing
spaceline companies, many thousands of people will
experience the wonder of leaving the earth's atmosphere
each year.
About
Virgin:
Virgin,
a leading branded venture capital organization, is
one of the world's most recognized and respected brands.
Conceived in 1970 by Sir Richard Branson, the Virgin
Group has gone on to grow very successful businesses
in sectors ranging from mobile telephony, to transportation,
travel, financial services, leisure, music, holidays,
publishing and retailing. Virgin has created more
than 200 companies worldwide, employing approximately
35,000 people, in 29 countries. Revenues around the
world in 2003 exceeded GBP 4.5 billion (US$7.9 billion).
About
Virgin Galactic:
The
Virgin Galactic name was first registered and trade
mark protection applied for in the mid 1990s. As the
world's-first commercial spaceline, Virgin Galactic
will be heavily investing to setup a world-class commercial
flight operation and to build the ground infrastructure
required to create the best possible sub-orbital spaceflight
experience for its passengers.
To register your interest in Virgin Galactic please
log on to: www.virgingalactic.com
About
Scaled Composites:
Scaled
Composites was founded in 1982 and immediately became
the world's most prolific developer of new research
aircraft types.
Detailed
information about Scaled Composites can be found at
www.scaled.com
________________________________________
Contact:
Virgin
Galactic
Jackie McQuillan
+ 44 207 229 4738 / + 44 7940 486567
Cell: + 44 7905 309096
US Inquires: 609-897-7865
Jackie.mcquillan@virgin.co.uk
www.virgingalactic.com
or:
Scaled
Composites
Trish Mills, 661-824-4541
info@scaled.com
www.scaled.com
Profiles
Virgin
Galactic
Virgin
Enterprises Limited
Richard
Branson
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