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European Launch Site For Virgin Galactic

Posted by kdawson on Sun Jan 28, 2007 12:25 AM
from the ooh-shiny dept.
Space Businesses
syguy writes "Sir Richard Branson's sub-orbital space tourism venture, Virgin Galactic, is considering a second launch site in Europe. Already committed to Spaceport America near Upham, New Mexico, USA, Virgin Galactic has signed a deal with the Swedish company Spaceport to investigate providing sub-orbital flights from Kiruna airport, Sweden. This is one of the northernmost commercial airports in the world. Branson is attracted by the possibility of offering flights through the Aurora Borealis. Flights could begin in 2011 or 2012." From the article: "The company said last year they would be conducting research into the safety of such a flight. Scientists have little information on how the storms that produce the northern lights affect spacecraft. [The] joint NASA-Canadian Space Agency THEMIS project will launch five satellites into space in February to monitor the northern lights..."
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[+] Politics: One Step Closer To Spaceport America 149 comments
space_hippy writes "The next step for a project we've previously discussed has now come around: thanks to a sales tax increase it seems as though the residents of Dona Ana county in New Mexico will be playing host to the first American commercial spaceport. From the BBC article: 'Residents in the US state of New Mexico have approved a new tax to build the nation's first commercial spaceport. Dona Ana County is a relatively poor and bleak swath of desert in southern New Mexico with fewer than 200,000 residents. But voters passed a 0.25% increase in the local sales tax to help contribute to the cost of building Spaceport America. Sir Richard Branson has signed a long-term lease with the state of New Mexico to make the new spaceport the headquarters of his Virgin Galactic space tourism business. The spaceport is expected to open in 2009, and Virgin Galactic says space flights will cost around $200,000 for a 2.5-hour flight.'"
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European Launch Site For Virgin Galactic 25 Comments More /

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  • well (Score:4, Funny)

    by macadamia_harold (947445) on Sunday January 28 2007, @12:32AM (#17787752) Homepage
    European Launch Site For Virgin Galactic

    If the galaxy has to lose its virginity somewhere, it might as well be in Europe.

  • Er... what? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Ant P. (974313) on Sunday January 28 2007, @12:33AM (#17787756) Homepage
    Flying directly through what's essentially a planet-sized cathode ray tube? Isn't that, you know...

    Ah forget it, let Darwin sort things out.

    • Flying directly through what's essentially a planet-sized cathode ray tube? Isn't that, you know...

      You can only really see the northern lights from darkness, so for maximum effect you would have to launch and land in the dark. That wasn't a requirement for SS1. Neither was flying in extreme cold.

      SS2 is sounding like a totally different beast from SS1, rather than just being a bigger version of it.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by qbwiz (87077) *
        Doesn't outer space (where SS1 went) count as dark and extreme cold?

        • Re:Er... what? (Score:4, Informative)

          by HUADPE (903765) on Sunday January 28 2007, @02:08AM (#17788092) Homepage
          Quite the opposite, when a star (namely the Sun) is shining on you, it's really quite hot, and full of EM waves, both light and some less friendly ones. The atmosphere keeps things warm at night and cool in the day. Swinging 300 degrees C when the Sun sets isn't fun.
    • One of five things could happen: You could get super stretchy, turn invisible, "flame on!", get rocky, or turn to living metal.

  • Thank you for flying Virgin Galactic (Score:5, Funny)

    by brainspank (515274) on Sunday January 28 2007, @12:34AM (#17787762)
    Chicken, Fish, or LSD sir?

  • Let's see some flights (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Timesprout (579035) on Sunday January 28 2007, @12:42AM (#17787808)
    Then get excited

  • what the hell? (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 28 2007, @12:51AM (#17787832)
    Branson is attracted by the possibility of offering flights THROUGH the Aurora Borealis.
    >>Auroras are now known to be caused by the collision of charged particles (e.g. electrons), found in the magnetosphere, with atoms in the Earth's upper atmosphere (at altitudes above 80 km). These charged particles are typically energized to levels between 1 thousand and 15 thousand electronvolts and, as they collide with atoms of gases in the atmosphere, the atoms become energized.
    >>As well as visible light, auroras emit infrared (NIR and IR) and ultraviolet (UV) rays as well as X-rays (e.g. as observed by the Polar spacecraft).
    So they are paying 200k+ to get radiated, gj virgin!

  • virgin and marketing (Score:4, Insightful)

    by romit_icarus (613431) on Sunday January 28 2007, @12:52AM (#17787844) Journal
    Going by past record, =aAnything that virgin announces has to be tempered with a dose of reality. The fact is that Branson is a master in using PR publicity as marketing. In fact he has been often quoted in interviews saying that a headline and a newsworthy article is worth more than ad dollars (and he's right). Virgin Galactic is a good long term indea. It also makes for great news. Right now he has had "agreements" with launch sites. Let's see how much money he puts on the table, let's see some test flights and then we can judge.
  • Ok, interesting, but how does this space launch site compares to the previously slashdottly discussed Nova Scotia site [slashdot.org]? (yes, already in other comments, but no links provided as far as I could find)

    While we're at it. The Sweden launch site on Google Maps [google.ca].

    "This provides us with Europe's first obvious place for suborbital space flights," said Susan Newsam, spokeswoman at Virgin Galactic, who adds that "flying into the aurora borealis has never been done before."
    Ok, I don't get it. What's the point? I thought

    • yes and no (Score:5, Informative)

      by ArcSecond (534786) on Sunday January 28 2007, @01:38AM (#17788002)
      Closer to the equator minimizes the amount of energy you have to put in to get something into orbit, since the earth's rotational velocity at the equator is maximal, and the distance from the center of gravity is greater (planets bulge at their equators).

      But keep in mind, we are not talking about rockets and putting stuff into orbit. These craft are still more aero than space and the aren't being boosted into high orbit. Also, convenience for the target audience (rich people) is at a premium, not fuel.
  • " . . . flights THROUGH the Aurora Borealis."

    I hope Branson screens his passengers carefully, because everything I know about Science and Comics says they're going to come back with super powers.

    Is the world ready for Team Virgin and assorted super-villains?

  • Esrange attraction (Score:4, Informative)

    by G3ckoG33k (647276) on Sunday January 28 2007, @02:49AM (#17788196)
    I doubt it was Kiruna's commercial airport that attracted. While little known outside Sweden, and definitely unheard of in USA, Franse, and Russia, Sweden has launched space rockets since 1966 in a station called Esrange. They apparently hope to sky rocket their already impressive launch list [wikipedia.org].

  • Do they really know what they are doing? (Score:4, Informative)

    by Billy the Mountain (225541) on Sunday January 28 2007, @03:24AM (#17788292) Journal
    I wonder why they said in the article "Scientists have little information on how the storms that produce the northern lights affect spacecraft." Scientific research on the Aurora Borealis has been ongoing at the Poker Flat Research Range, located 30 miles north of Fairbanks Alaska, for almost 40 years where they have been routinely launching sounding rockets into the Aurora Borealis to study it's characteristics. http://www.pfrr.alaska.edu/ [alaska.edu] .

    BTM

  • Kiruna (Score:3, Informative)

    by tengwar (600847) <slashdot@NosPAM.vetinari.org> on Sunday January 28 2007, @06:02AM (#17788672)
    I've been through Kiruna a few times to go walking. It's a big, sparsely populated mining and forestry town in the Saami (Lapp) area of the north of Sweden. The air connection has to be subsidised by the government, and it's a long flight from Stockholm Arlanda in a very small plane. The air crew come round to ask who would like a taxi called for them at the airport. When you arrive, there's a single small luggage carousel and a large stuffed bear in Arrivals.

  • Relocating the town (Score:3, Interesting)

    by QuickFox (311231) on Sunday January 28 2007, @07:38AM (#17788952)
    The people of Kiruna are not only space exploration experts, they are also good at moving houses [thelocal.se].

    • Re:But who can afford it? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by therufus (677843) on Sunday January 28 2007, @12:37AM (#17787780)
      The whole endevour is not intended for the general public, this is out and out a publicity exercise just as all Branson escapades are. The stunt will generate publicity for the normal carrier airline and in turn, generate revenue.

    • Re:But who can afford it? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by ArcticCelt (660351) on Sunday January 28 2007, @03:35AM (#17788332)
      Like for any technology, early adopters will pay the price. Thanks to the "super-wealthy", more money will flow into research and development to make the technology more affordable.

    • Re:But who can afford it? (Score:4, Informative)

      by kylegordon (159137) on Sunday January 28 2007, @08:24AM (#17789092) Homepage
      To quote wikipedia...
      Furthermore, they believe that over a five-year period only 5,000 passengers would be needed in order to be profitable. Profits from early flights would be reinvested to make space tourism more affordable.
    • "it would be one in a lifetime for you to see outer space"

      Especially if the shuttle crashes and they all die.

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