Virgin Galactic details its space travel plans

By Leonard David

Senior space writer

updated 2:27 p.m. ET Nov. 10, 2006

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico - For Virgin Galactic — the passenger-carrying spaceliner company — plans are rapidly taking shape to offer suborbital space flights in the near term, and also to eventually offer point-to-point rocket travel around the globe, as well as to space hotels, and trips to the moon.

While the business case for public space transportation has yet to be proven, sections of Virgin Galactic’s spaceliner already dot the factory floors at Scaled Composites in Mojave, Calif. — all under the watchful eye of aerospace designer, Burt Rutan.

Rutan and his team built and flew the piloted SpaceShipOne on a trio of suborbital treks in 2004, winning the $10 million Ansari X Prize purse in the process. Now they are hard at it fulfilling the Virgin Galactic order for commuter-class spaceliners.

The company’s founder, British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, partnered with Rutan last year to create The Spaceship Company. The company's goal: to build a fleet of commercial suborbital spaceships and launch aircraft.

At Virgin Galactic, ticket sales for suborbital flights at $200,000 a seat are tallying up. And here in New Mexico, the design of Spaceport America is underway to handle the space-bound public traffic by 2009-2010.

The business plan is for 50,000 people to visit space over a 10-year time period, explained Alex Tai, vice president, operations for Virgin Galactic. Tai is trained as a pilot in the Royal Air Force and started at Virgin as an airline pilot for Virgin Atlantic before embarking on special projects for Branson.

Working on the Virgin Galactic project from its conception, Tai plans to fly the first commercial flight of the firm’s spaceship as one of the pilots. Among current tasks, he is supervising the design and construction of the new passenger-carrying SpaceShipTwo.

In this exclusive interview, Space.com caught up with Tai during the 2nd International Symposium for Personal Spaceflight, held here prior to the Oct. 20-21 Wirefly X Prize Cup festivities.

Maximize the experience
“What this is about is some seven minutes of black sky, about four minutes of zero-gravity, and about training to become an astronaut,” Tai explained. There’s no doubt in his mind that the experience will be first-rate and a full-service package — akin to the luxurious pampering already given Virgin travelers, he noted.

Tony Bonanno / NMEDD Alex Tai plans to be at the controls for Virgin Galactic's first commercial spaceflight.

“You can sit somewhere in a box strapped into an ejection seat and give them zero view,” Tai said. “That’s no way to go into space. We’ll be giving them a really sexy training experience. We’re providing large windows that maximize the view…the freedom to float around in zero-gravity…to maximize the experience. I don’t think we’re in danger of under-delivery.”

For the $200,000 tab, the passenger will receive an all-accommodations three-day package, hotel, training and transport to and from the spaceport site. “We’ll throw in meals and champagne,” Tai added.

Tai said that he’s aware that there is still skepticism in some circles about public space travel, with detractors dismissing it as more stunt than stable business. Branson is keen, he responded, on developing a legacy and becoming the first-ever spaceliner operator and owner.

Beyond high-priced seats—those early adopters of spaceliner travel that are booking and spending big time dollars—look for the cost of access to space to drop.

“There will be incremental improvements to the technology,” Tai predicted. Initially, SpaceShipTwo, like its predecessor, will utilize the oomph of a hybrid rocket motor. But once the industry is underway, Virgin Galactic will look for other types of motors to plug in the back of spaceliners.

“Then the seat prices will tumble,” is the forecast from Tai. Branson plans to plow back money gained from early flights into extensions of space tourism, he added.

Banking on Virgin Galactic’s progress, watch for more manufacturers to pop up with other types of space vehicles. “There will be fuel to fan the invention…and the fuel is money,” Tai said.

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