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Space The Almighty Buck Science

Virgin Atlantic Licensing SpaceShipOne 207

Posted by Hemos from the the-eventual-goal-of-course dept.
Tigerquoll writes "According to the Australian Broadcasting Commission, British airline magnate Richard Branson has announced a plan for the world's first commercial space flights and has signed a technology licensing deal with Mojave Aerospace Ventures - the US company behind SpaceShipOne. See scaled composites' media release and the Virgin Galactic website"
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Virgin Atlantic Licensing SpaceShipOne More

Virgin Atlantic Licensing SpaceShipOne

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  • Branson? Makes sense (Score:5, Funny)

    by rde ( 17364 ) * on Monday September 27, 2004 @07:56AM (#10361141)
    As we all know, when you ride a Virgin you boldly go where no man has gone before.

    • Re:Branson? Makes sense (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      If it is Virgin trains then no man has got to the destination, that's for sure. Not on time anyway.

      I think Branson should concentrate on the 19th century technology of trains and get that right before moving into the 21st century.
      • Virgin Atlantic Airways has an excellent reputation, though.

        Virgin Trains was, perhaps, not the best idea since the British government still handled the maintenance and still did a poor job as I recall.

        In this case, if you like the SpaceShipOne people, that's where most of the money's going to. Virgin is just the marketing company. They'll probably handle things like reservations just fine, and Branson's about the best promoter there is.

        I suspect the "low" price for space tourism is based on Mr Branson
    • This is Vigin on the rediculous.
    • Virgins don't go all the way, and to grind to a stop in a vacuum would.. erm.. really suck.
    • ..or with the slashdot readership, riding a Virgin is probably about going where no sane woman would consider going at all...
  • "Our press release was covered by Slashdot today! Perfect! Make sure our database guys delete all records received before October 1, because they're poor geeks who just want the brochure for free. Don't waste your phone calls on these freeloaders."

    • Re:Meanwhile, at Virgin Atlantic, the webmaster sa (Score:5, Insightful)

      by gowen ( 141411 ) <gwowen@gmail.com> on Monday September 27, 2004 @08:03AM (#10361165) Homepage Journal
      "Our press release was covered by Slashdot today! Perfect!"
      Actually, you can stop there. Branson is a master of PR, and I wouldn't be remotely surprised if this venture gets quietly binned, once its provided its much needed channels to allow Branson time to plug his newly launched credit card.
      • I wouldn't be remotely surprised if this venture gets quietly binned, once its provided its much needed channels to allow Branson time to plug his newly launched credit card.

        I wouldn't call it newly launched. The Virgin card was launched in either late 2001 or early 2002, IIRC. My company was in discussions with Virgin and ANB to do the card, but in the end they went with one of our competitors.

      • Re:Meanwhile, at Virgin Atlantic, the webmaster sa (Score:5, Interesting)

        by jdreed1024 ( 443938 ) on Monday September 27, 2004 @09:15AM (#10361563)
        Branson is a master of PR, and I wouldn't be remotely surprised if this venture gets quietly binned, once its provided its much needed channels to allow Branson time to plug his newly launched credit card.

        If so, he plans pretty far in advance:

        Domain Name: VIRGINGALACTIC.COM

        Created on..............: Wed, May 08, 2002
        Record last updated on..: Sat, Dec 06, 2003

      • Re:Meanwhile, at Virgin Atlantic, the webmaster sa (Score:5, Insightful)

        by nexu56 ( 566998 ) on Monday September 27, 2004 @09:39AM (#10361694) Homepage

        Branson is a master of PR, and I wouldn't be remotely surprised if this venture gets quietly binned, once its provided its much needed channels to allow Branson time to plug his newly launched credit card

        He's also a successful entrepreneur to the tune of billions, so I wouldn't write him off that quickly. He must be doing something right.

        When he started an airline (Virgin Atlantic) people aired similar doubts. When British Airlines realised he was serious they threw every dirty trick in the book at him... but they got smacked down in the courts when Branson proved they were operating an effective monopoly (a situation close to slashdot readers' hearts).

        Despite extensive industrial sabotage, Virgin launched the worlds prototype discount airline, which to date has been massively successful. Virgin Blue, the australian arm of the business, has captured a third of the domestic market from Qantas within a few years. All the while Virgin has dominated another form of air travel with Virgin Balloons. But I'm sure that was a ploy to sell plastic credit too.

        Naive spin-master or visionary benefactor? I think Branson's record speaks for itself.

        • Virgin launched the worlds prototype discount airline

          Actually, it was Freddy Laker's 'Skytrain [wikipedia.org]' launched in 1973 that was the first no-frills airline. You turned up at the airport like at a train station, no advance booking, food for sale on the plame if you want it, or bring your own fish & chips. Laker found himself falling victim to dirty tricks from BOAC, (a forerunner of British Airways) that put him out of business. I remember a documentary showing Branson talking to Laker years later when BA

        • ...Virgin launched the worlds prototype discount airline...

          Actually Virgin is not a discount airline, it's a traditional carrier with a simple network, and so greater control over its costs. As another poster has noted, Branson's competition is the entrenched large airlines such as BA and AA who had it their own way for too long.

          Having said that, he doesn't seem to want to compete *too* hard - I just had a look at a flight LHR(28th)->JFK, overnight stay, return next day, cheapest seats: BA £8

  • Space travel in my lifetime :-) (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Space cowboy ( 13680 ) * on Monday September 27, 2004 @07:57AM (#10361143) Journal
    I may never get onto the world's first commercial supersonic jet [britishairways.com], now that it's been retired, but with an initial price of £115,000 I'll certainly hope that (after another 5 years or so, when the price has come down), I'll get into space. Cool. Really cool if it flies over my house :-))

    I'd always regretted not doing the quick flight to NY from London (not that I could afford it!), even with tiny seats. I'm told it was just about possible to pop over the pond, do your xmas shopping in a different continent, and pop back the next day (same day was possible but left little time for shopping...) Let's just hope that the space-flights stimulate some competition, unlike Concorde, because then the next goal would quickly become 'lunar city'...

    I think that 'Virgin Galactic' is hopelessly optimistic, though, given that it's sub-orbital. I'm guessing people won't really want the 'galactic' version, and a return ticket might be a bit superfluous...

    Simon

    • Re:Space travel in my lifetime :-) (Score:5, Interesting)

      by kryonD ( 163018 ) on Monday September 27, 2004 @08:23AM (#10361247) Homepage Journal
      "Let's just hope that the space-flights stimulate some competition, unlike Concorde, because then the next goal would quickly become 'lunar city'..."

      Fortunately for you, the Japanese [spacefuture.com] have been eying this industry for quite some time. And quite frankly, I'm putting my money on the culture that presently makes: The world's fastest super computer, the most reliable cars, the most advanced communication technology, etc...

      These guys are in it to win and Virgin won't be able to charge $190K because the Japanese will be there offering $185K, or some other competitive number that would make it cheaper to fly vial JAL to Tokyo instead of Virgin to London.
      • And quite frankly, I'm putting my money on the culture that presently makes: The world's fastest super computer, the most reliable cars, the most advanced communication technology, etc...

        Ah, but have you ever flown Virgin? I've never been treated so well on an airline as a Virgin trans-atlantic. I'm sure there are anecdotal horror stories that folks will post as replies (unavoidable in the airline industry). So Virgin Galactic might get my money for a suborbital trip, if it mimics what you can expect

    • Re:Space travel in my lifetime :-) (Score:4, Insightful)

      by JohnnyNoSPAM ( 815401 ) on Monday September 27, 2004 @08:35AM (#10361304)
      Hopelessly optimistic... perhaps. Still, even for the glimpse of our world from the perspective that thus far only a few have been able to see would be incredible. I don't have a few hundred thousand bucks sitting around to burn; maybe I never will. But, for those who do I'm sure that it will be the experience of a life time - even if they don't go to the moon or anything like that.

      In Thornton Wilder's play, Our Town, there is a memorable quote: "It takes life to love life." As an example, it's one thing to read about a roller coaster ride, to see the pictures, and to hear the tales of others who have experienced it. But, to be there yourself, to take that and to feel that energy and excitment for which no words or pictures can simulate - there is nothing that comes close to knowing for yourself.

      Commerical space flights might not be anything that would be anywhere nearly as affordable as commerical flights of today at least relatively speaking within my lifetime. I might end up being a very old man by the time that they do. Aside of the excite of seeing our planet from such an amazing view point, I am sure that the sheer speed of being able to get from one place to another will become yet another convenience - a luxury of future life. I just hope that there is competition so that the prices will be competitive and thus the flights will not remain an experience only for a priviledged few.
      • Er, not sure if it was obvious or not, but when I said 'hopelessly optimistic', I was referring to the 'galactic' in the name rather than the idea itself. To call a service 'galactic' yet only get 100km away from terra firma seems ... well, hopelessly optimistic :-)

        Either that, or he's planning about 1000 years ahead...

        Simon
    • Well, you can get onto the worlds first commercial supersonic jet... come to seattle to check out the museum of flight http://www.museumofflight.org/ where you can take a quick tour of a concord http://www.museumofflight.org/visit/concorde.html and the original air force one, and sit in the cockpit of an sr-71 (one of only two that allowed a drone to be attached) and and and plenty of other cool things. Having seen the smithsonian (before the new hangar was acquired) this mof blows that out of the w

  • Insurance cost ? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by mirko ( 198274 ) on Monday September 27, 2004 @07:58AM (#10361149) Journal
    How will be the insurance cost calculated ?
    I mean, there are stats which help defining the cost of a plane travel insurance but there ain't such stats concerning commercial flights...

  • Name of the new ship (Score:5, Interesting)

    by JamesD_UK ( 721413 ) on Monday September 27, 2004 @07:58AM (#10361150) Homepage
    If you look at the BBC article [bbc.co.uk], the Virgin spacecraft design is to be called the VSS Enterprise!

  • foward planning! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by welshwaterloo ( 740554 ) on Monday September 27, 2004 @08:01AM (#10361159)
    VIRGINGALACTIC.COM
    Created on..............: Wed, May 08, 2002

    Now there's some foward planning!

  • Don't forget the long term plans! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by manavendra ( 688020 ) on Monday September 27, 2004 @08:01AM (#10361160) Homepage Journal
    " If it is a success, we want to move into orbital flights and then, possibly, even get a hotel up there"
    -Sir Richard Branson

    From bbc [bbc.co.uk]

    • Re:Don't forget the long term plans! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by TintinX ( 569362 ) on Monday September 27, 2004 @08:24AM (#10361251) Homepage
      " If it is a success, we want to move into orbital flights and then, possibly, even get a hotel up there"

      Am I a hopeless geek who needs therapy or does reading that quote from Branson bring a genuine tear of emotion to anyone else's eye?
      That such a thing has taken one very real step closer to realisation in my lifetime is - quite literally - awesome.

      • Re:Don't forget the long term plans! (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward
        With some people, I'd have a similar response. However, with Branson, I'll remain skeptical for a bit longer...
      • Please, we've been hearing about the space hotel since at least the 60s and probably before. There was one in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), I think it was a Hilton.

        It's like those damned flying cars. Since the 40s, flying cars have been "5 years away!" You'll be able to buy one "5 years from now!" You can fly above the crowded freeways in luxury!

        No one tears up for flying cars... you know why? Because despite being promised every decade for the last 65 years, it's never happened. I've never been abl

        • I've never been able to buy a flying car, and the FAA hasn't even bothered to consider licensing any.

          You cannot blame the FCC for this. There are several homebuilt flying cars and I'm sure all of them are licensed or they wouldn't be allowed to use airports, which they do - they trailer the wings, fuselage, and tail section, which are attached at the airport.

          The sole reason that you don't have a flying car is that no one is selling one. It has nothing to do with the FAA. No one is selling one beca

  • This is just great! (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Ariane 6 ( 248505 ) on Monday September 27, 2004 @08:04AM (#10361168)
    This is the best news I've heard all year!

    Since 7 AM, I feel like I'm living a book by Arthur C. Clarke. I've been waiting for this since I was a kid. I've just been repeating the company name over and over in my head:

    Virgin Galactic Spacelines.

    Wow.

    Oh - and it seems they have a website...be sure to check it out! [virgingalactic.com]
    • ... you're actually living in a "You are the hero" book ;) There's nothing stopping anyone from participating in the uppcoming adventure of commercial space travel.

      This newly born industry needs talents to bloom. Ask yourself what you can do to help.
    • Does anyone else remember Pan Am taking advanced reservations on the "Space Clipper" as part of their 'product placement' in Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick's 2001 ? Someplace admidst the wreckage of my youth I have a certificate that Pan Am mailed to me certifying that I had a reservation when the "Space Clipper" flies. I wish I could find it. At least I have my Apollo 11 patch left over from a NASA visit in '70. If Virgin can actually make it happen, I say go for it ! Space travel has gotten too Gove

  • Licensing seems inexpensive relative to other cost (Score:4, Interesting)

    by erick99 ( 743982 ) <homerun@gmail.com> on Monday September 27, 2004 @08:05AM (#10361170)
    Given the costs and future revenue associated with the technology that is being licensed, I am surprised that the licensing deal is only worth appx. $21M:

    The licensing deal with M.A.V. could be worth up to £14 million ($21.5 million) over the next fifteen years depending on the number of spaceships built by Virgin.

    The development alone of the technology is predictably high:

    It is expected that around £60 million ($100 million) will be invested in developing the new generation of spaceships and ground infrastructure required to operate a sub orbital space tourism experience.

    The revenue for flights seems about what one would expect:

    Over five years Virgin expects to create around 3000 astronauts and the price per seat on each flight, which will include at least three days of pre-flight training, are expected to start at around £115,000 ($190,000).

    So, given all of these numbers, doesn't $21M for a license seem low?

    -erick

  • This is technological progress... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by mikael ( 484 ) on Monday September 27, 2004 @08:05AM (#10361174)
    After having spent 30 years of research in order to conquer the complexities of making
    train carriages tilt while travelling along a curve at 150 miles/hour, and taking 15 minutes off the travel time [bbc.co.uk], it's only
    a small step to having reusable space craft running shuttle flights to and from Mars.

    • Re:This is technological progress... (Score:4, Informative)

      by gowen ( 141411 ) <gwowen@gmail.com> on Monday September 27, 2004 @08:19AM (#10361225) Homepage Journal
      Well, the recent delay on the Pendolino is nothing to do with the trains, and everything to do with the fact that the West Coast Mainline tracks themselves hadn't been maintained sufficiently well to allow the trains to run on them.
    • That's not really fair. The ATP fiasco was all British Rail's own.

      During the 80's I worked as a programmer on RAVERS (Rail Vehicle Records) which was BR's system for logging its movable assets. Interestingly there was (if I remember correctly) four records for ATPs on the live system, despite the fact that only one or two prototypes had been officialy produced.
      • Actually its the "APT" (Advanced Passenger Train) i did a project at school about it when i was a little nipper.
      • I used to work for the company providing support to Virgin Trains and our main source of humour on the long night shifts was people phoning up to tell us that "RAVERS had gone down" and we needed to do something to "bring the RAVERS up again." Our suggestions of "more ecstasy" didn't always go down well.

        This was almost as amusing as the system they have in Virgin music stores called "ELVIS" and we would be similarly amused to hear that "ELVIS had gone down".
        • They had a bit of a thing about names. After RAVERS I went to work on LOVERS (I kid you not) which was Local Vehicle Records - a sort of smaller version of RAVERS that ran on a PC.

          BR was the strangest place to work, not least because half the staff seemed to be made up of train spotters. Mates of mine at the IT centre at Crewe had it particularly bad because the building was at the end of one of the platforms so those 'lucky' programmers with a window view could add to their tick list while 'working'.

  • so what? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by nblender ( 741424 )
    Once everyone who can reasonably afford to, has gone up in space, floated around the cabin a bit, and drunk their vodka-bubbles, what are they going to do for an encore? Take people to Mars? Once the novelty has worn off, people realize there's nowhere to go for your 10 day vacation because everything interesting is 3 generations away... Just a passing fad like radio, television, and spam.

    • Re:so what? (Score:4, Funny)

      by richie2000 ( 159732 ) <rickard.olsson@gmail.com> on Monday September 27, 2004 @09:00AM (#10361481) Homepage Journal
      there's nowhere to go for your 10 day vacation

      At that time, they will have accrued enough cash and guts to build a hotel in orbit. They'll advertise the scenic view, but hint at the zero-G beds. When that wears off, there's the moon. By the time we get to Mars, we'll probably have the technology to get there fast enough and then the solar system's in our back yard. But not Europa. We'll attempt no landings there.

    • I think it will be a bit of status symbol, but I can forsee, just on SIS alone, a considerable number of flights per affording person. It will probably take several flights to acheive this status, and I forsee a line of couples heading to the bathrooms or other private areas as soon as they can.

      But that is just me, I think.

  • Can't get to the hotel, yet (Score:3, Informative)

    by Rxke ( 644923 ) on Monday September 27, 2004 @08:09AM (#10361190) Homepage
    That's cool, but nothing compared to ...

    'America Space Prize' $50 mil.

    http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0409/27bigel ow /

    for the first one that comes up with an orbital thingy to visit Bigelows ... SpaceHotels, Yeah!
  • "According to the Australian Broadcasting Commission," it's actually a corporation and hasnt been a commission for quite a while. Yes it is still government funded, but the C stands for corporation now-a-days.

  • Forget tourism! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by InternationalCow ( 681980 ) <[moc.cam] [ta] [lesneetsnaveciruam]> on Monday September 27, 2004 @08:14AM (#10361205) Journal
    The virgin galactic (which translates to Virgin Milky...) site gushes about the spiritual experience for rich tourists ("executive jets"..."dine with astronauts" yadda yadda) but the true opportunity for the foreseeable future will be IMHO in high speed intercontinental flight for those for whom it is really important. Let space tourism pave the way (like the rich did with the automobile) but let's not forget the ultimate goal. Then I can finally go to a conference in Australia without haveing to reserve two days for getting there!
    • A hypersonic "spacecraft" which blasts into low earth orbit can probably make a landing on a different continent after a pleasurable period in free-fall... somewhat faster than a Boeing jetliner flying in the stratosphere at 600mph.

      Virgin tend to show sound commercial sense, I suspect the tagline of pleasure flights to orbit is a cover for development of more efficient long-haul aircraft which travel outside the atmosphere

  • Air Miles (Score:5, Funny)

    by payndz ( 589033 ) on Monday September 27, 2004 @08:22AM (#10361240)
    Woohoo! *Finally* a use for all those damn Air Miles I've accumulated!
  • Catch the Virgin Train, and travel to airport.
    Stay at the Vigin hotel.
    Catch the Virgin Plane, and cross the Atlantic.
    All the while, drinking your Vigin cola and listening to Virgin music on the Vigin radio station.
    And then fly the Vigin spaceship. ...

    Are there any high-profile industries that Mr. Branson doesn't plan to get involved with?

    • Sounds like Trump this, Trump that.

      At least Mr. Branson had the taste to come up with a company name that was not his own.

    • Re:Vigin this, Vigin that... (Score:4, Interesting)

      by polyp2000 ( 444682 ) on Monday September 27, 2004 @09:13AM (#10361546) Homepage Journal
      I like Branson;

      I have always thought of Branson as a "Nice Guy" yes, he has his finger in a few pies. But it seems to me that when he takes on a loss making public service (british transport ) and makes a good stab at turning it around for the better of the people.... I Just get the impression that his heart is in the right place. I will never forgive the lottery commision in the UK for not awarding it to branson; who promised that all of the money made from ticket sales would go to deserving causes rather than the percentage (whatever that is) that Camelot give away.

      Nick ...

  • 3 Hours?? (Score:2, Funny)

    by Ionizer7 ( 814098 )
    That is barely enough time for the in flight movie (apollo 13 maybe?) and one trip from the beverage lady.

  • For all the naysayers out there (Score:3, Interesting)

    by HuguesT ( 84078 ) on Monday September 27, 2004 @09:08AM (#10361529)
    The US went from suborbital unmanned flight to the Moon in almost exactly 10 years:

    Little Joe 1 - August 21, 1959 - test of launch escape system during flight, first flight of the Mercury program.

    Apollo 11 - July 20, 1969 - Landing on the Moon.

    One of the most incredible and awe-inspiring achievements of the XXth century, and I'm saying this when I'm not even American. If it were started from scratch today, everyone would think it would simply be impossible.

    You may say that a lot of resources were sunk into this, for sure. However large private interests have even more money than governments these days.

    If I had Bill Gates' fortune this is the thing I would do. Get back to the Moon, establish a small base, restart the Orion program from there, mine the outer planets for He3, go to the stars. Would $40B be enough? I don't know. It's the most responsible thing to do if we want to survive as a species.
    • If I had Bill Gates' fortune this is the thing I would do. Get back to the Moon, establish a small base, restart the Orion program from there, mine the outer planets for He3, go to the stars. Would $40B be enough? I don't know. It's the most responsible thing to do if we want to survive as a species. Yeah, and this Earth thing we have here is losing it's novelty after so many years. Let's get going!

    • It's the most responsible thing to do if we want to survive as a species.

      Why do you have to leave the planet to survive? You have a much better chance if you stay here and fix the problems locally rather than running away. 'Cause you know... no matter where you go, there you are.

      • Why do you have to leave the planet to survive? You have a much better chance if you stay here and fix the problems locally rather than running away.

        You're forgetting that the biggest threat to us as a species may not come from ourselves. A strike by a large asteroid or comet could easily doom humankind. If we're all sitting here on Earth, that's it. If we've left the cradle, some will survive. Remember it's not a question of if this will happen, it's simply a matter of when.

    • In the period between 1959 and 1969 - money was no object. At that point, we were near the peak of the Cold War, and very few people in the American public minded spending exorbitant amounts of money on putting a person on the moon, because it meant beating the Russians.

      These days, there is no Enemy that we must race to space to beat, thus there isn't an incentive to spend exorbitant amounts of money. The recent efforts (X-Prize, etc.) have mainly been in the arena of taking spaceflight and bringing the

  • Step 0 (Score:2, Interesting)

    by blooba ( 792259 )
    subject to all necessary government approvals [virgingalactic.com]

    the announcement is step 0. step 1 involves clearing all of the government obstacles. but according to popular /. opinion, that is the one thing that sir branson is obviously quite good at.

    if they succeed with step 1, then us geeks can get excited in earnest. step 2 will be development and testing. should be no problem given the monies involved. then of course, in step 3 we'll see many, very rich people fulfilling their lifelong dreams. the rest of us

    • Re:Step 0 (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Ariane 6 ( 248505 )
      but i fear that step 4 will be sudden bankruptcy, when they quickly exhaust the very small number of adventurers rich enough to afford the still hideously expensive ticket.

      This is indeed a possibility, and maybe even probable unless during the period of step 3, further development and testing is conducted to lower the cost of suborbital flights. If that occurs, then the rest of us may get suborbital for the cost of a car, while the super-rich get an orbiting hotel, and on from there.

      If anyone can do it,
  • "We apologise for the delay to the 11:20 Virgin Suborbital. This is due to... err... the wrong kind of space."
  • Nice choice of name for the space-ship (from the website)

    VSS Enterprice
    (Virgin Space Ship)

    Nick ...

  • Astronaut wings (Score:5, Insightful)

    by chiph ( 523845 ) on Monday September 27, 2004 @09:44AM (#10361741)
    The site says that after your flight, you'll have a dinner where you'll be presented with your astronaut wings. I can see some resentment from the established astronaut/cosmonaut/taikonaut corps to this.

    How much do you want to bet that the requirements for receiving your wings will be raised by 100km or so?

    Chip H.
  • there's Zero-G [nogravity.com], which is offering flights now for just under $3000 per person. Ok, so it's not exactly going to space - but you get real weightlessness for the price!

  • Concorde (Score:2, Informative)

    by victor_the_cleaner ( 723411 )
    It really is unfortunate that Branson was not able to take over Concorde [bbc.co.uk] after BA and AF stopped supersonic passenger service.

    I think Sir Richard could have done a good job of restoring Concorde to its former glory. SpaceShipOne is just his latest go-fast toy.

    After all Branson speding a billion to play with his toys (SpaceShipOne, Concorde) is no different than any hobby we may have. Of course it is a billion, but overall it's a small percentage of his assets.

  • VSS Enterprise? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by hacksoncode ( 239847 ) on Monday September 27, 2004 @11:53AM (#10363103)
    I wonder whether they have a license from the Roddenberry estate...

    • Re:VSS Enterprise? (Score:3, Informative)

      by Nexus Seven ( 112882 )
      Errr, no [wikipedia.org].

    • Re:VSS Enterprise? (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Teancum ( 67324 )
      While I'm sure if Paramount could if it were possible to formally trademark the phrase "U.S.S. Enterprise", since it is the name of an actual ship [navy.mil] not owned by Paramount I think it would be more problematic for Paramount Pictures to be able to enforce that trademark.

      The name "USS Enterprise" has a long and distinguished history going all the way back to the administration of George Washington. There isn't going to be judge in the USA that will seriously recognise trademark usage except by the U.S. Navy fo

  • Commercial space flights are old (Score:3, Interesting)

    by richmaine ( 128733 ) on Monday September 27, 2004 @12:37PM (#10363583)
    There have been commercial space flights for... gee I don't want to waste the time to go figure out what would count as the first one, but it sure wasn't in this millenium, no matter how you count it. One could pretty easily argue for the 60's.

    Of course, one wouldn't expect press releases to worry too much about accuracy.

    PS. Perhaps they were referring to manned space flights. Now that would be quite different thing. Those of us that work in technical matters sometimes worry about actually saying what we mean.
  • From the website: You could possibly have the opportunity to ride in fast jets, to experience negative gravity in our executive jet and then watch as one of the other launches leaves earth for the near reaches of space; possibly you may even ride in the mother ship.

    Whatcha gonna do, George?! Put a glide in your stride, a dip in your hip, and come on down to the mothership!

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