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First commercial spaceport christens inaugural runway in New Mexico desert (video)
Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo won't have to taxi down public runways for much longer. Today, founder Richard Branson and New Mexico governor Bill Richardson cut the ribbon at a nearly two-mile long runway for the world's first commercial spaceport. While the rest of the facilities at New Mexico's Spaceport America are still under construction and Branson estimates sub-orbital launches are still nine to eighteen months away, the 42-inch-thick strip of pavement is definitely complete -- see the WhiteKnightTwo mothership come in for a landing right after the break. Update: Our best pals over at Gadling got a few exclusive interview snippets in their own video!
Virgin Gaming to offer online game tournaments
Virgin Gaming may not be ready to officially reveal its operations until E3, but a bit of sleuthing has shown that at least part of its business likely will be online tournaments for popular games -- with cash prizes. MaxConsole found that the VirginGaming.com domain is administered by Entertainment Tech, the same company that runs WorldGaming.com; a site that allows members to compete in PS3 and Xbox 360 games for money. In addition, a call by MaxConsole to Entertainment Tech's Toronto office reportedly was met by a "Welcome to Virgin Gaming" greeting. Even more conclusive is this page on the Virgin site for a ModNation Racers "Online Tournament" for Canadian gamers, held in coordination with GameStop and EBGames' Canadian branches. When contacted by Joystiq, Virgin declined to comment on its business as it relates to game tournaments -- so we'll continue holding out hope that tournaments will be merely a side project, and the real business of Virgin Gaming will be to publish a Color a Dinosaur sequel.
Virgin Group returning to games, details forthcoming at E3
Mega-billionaire Richard Branson (look around your house -- there may be a document nearby indicating that he owns you) once had a game publishing company called Virgin Interactive, responsible for releasing the original Command & Conquer, the Lands of Lore games and, of course, the NES classic Color a Dinosaur (pictured above). Now, Virgin has formed a new "Virgin Gaming" initiative and will return to the game industry in an unspecified capacity. This could be the return of Virgin's game download service, which we last heard about in 2007 -- but we won't know for sure until further details are announced at E3.
Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo completes maiden flight (now with video!)
Virgin Galactic's VSS Enterprise suborbital aircraft made its first captive carry test flight yesterday in Mojave, California. As shown in the above photo (courtesy of Mark Greenberg), the craft remained attached to the VMS Eve mothership for the entirety of its 2 hour and 54 minute flight, reaching an altitude of 45,000 feet in the process. If all goes according to plan, the spacecraft -- which we first peeped in December -- will start commercial operations late next year. Looks like it's time to start saving up those Velocity Points, kids! In the meantime, check out CNET's gallery of shots from the flight by hitting that ever lovin' source link.
Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo: the video unveiling
You've already engrossed yourself in the media reports stemming from Mojave Spaceport, but if you've been hunting high and low for a few good frames of the SpaceShipTwo unveiling, look no further. Our homeslices over at Gadling were on hand for the event, and they did the honors of filming the introduction as well as the craft's first public movements. Hit that source link for a look, and be sure to check your pulse if you aren't feeling inspired when the credits roll.
Virgin Galactic reveals SpaceShipTwo, plans commercial space flights in 2011
We've been waiting an awful long time for this day to come, and now we're doing our darndest to rush away 2010. Today, Sir Richard Branson officially took the wraps off of a spacecraft that we initially peeked back in June of 2008: the SpaceShipTwo. Designed to hold six passengers and two pilots, this magnificent craft will reportedly be ready to ship wealthy tourists into space as early as 2011. Reportedly, the craft will be taken up to launch altitude by the WhiteKnightTwo, after which the 2.5 hour tour will take patrons high enough to experience around 5 minutes of weightlessness. Of course, the ship still has an awful lot of regulatory passing to do, and the Spaceport America in New Mexico still has to be built, but it's nothing short of fantastic to see the wheels turning in the right direction. Just think -- you can finally tell you kid that an aeronautical engineering degree isn't required to leave the atmosphere. Future, we heart thee. P.S. - Peek that MSNBC link for the unveiling shots!
Aabar Investments takes 32 percent stake in Virgin Galactic, we're still not cool enough to go to space
United Arab Emirates company Aabar Investments and today announced that it would be taking a 32 percent stake in Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic space tourism venture, a deal worth about $280 million dollars. Though the deal has yet to be approved by US regulatory agencies, Aabar, which is an investment vehicle for Abu Dhabi's government, said that it plans to build a spaceport in the capital city, and that it's committed an addition $100 million to fund satellite launch capabilites. The deal gives Aabar the regional rights to host tourism as well as scientific research flights. When asked how they felt about having Richard Branson hanging around their city, reps from Aabar said, "King Crazy? We love that guy!"[Image credit: David Schrubbe]
WhiteKnightTwo to be unveiled on Monday, space to seem less far away
Hold onto your dollar bills, y'all -- the WhiteKnightTwo is set to be unveiled (and swooned over) on Monday. We knew the fabled space tourism vehicle was set to be unwrapped this month, but knowing that said event is merely hours away just gets our juices flowin'. Richard Branson and "other dignitaries" are preparing to officially launch the ship at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California (a short drive from Zzyzx, we hear), and we're still being led to believe that test flights should begin as early as this fall. Hey, at least you know what you're doing next year if your ship comes in.[Via The Register]
Virgin's coconut-powered 747 completes first flight
Finally, mankind has the answer to that eternal question, how many coconuts does it take to go from London to Amsterdam? The answer: 150,000 -- converted into biofuel and poured into a special 747, of course. Virgin Atlantic completed its first biofuel tests yesterday with solid results, using a mix of 20 percent coconut oil and 80 percent jet fuel to power a 747 -- a first for the airline industry. There's still a long way to go, of course -- only one of the jet's four tanks carried the alternative fuel, and even Richard Branson admits that giant coconut plantations devoted to airline fuel probably aren't workable -- but despite harsh criticism from skeptics, it's still an impressive achievement. Branson says that although this test didn't use a viable fuel, it's a landmark proof-of-concept -- and that next-generation biofuels made from algae may one day power all our aircraft. Sure, that'd be nice, but we'll stick with tiki-power -- anyone have a drink umbrella?[Via The Register]
The Engadget Interview: Sir Richard Branson, Chairman of Virgin Group
Yesterday we sat down with Sir Richard Branson, Chairman of Virgin Group, in the first class cabin of Air Colbert on the inaugural flight of Virgin America. Richard's day started with a rush through NY rain to make the plane that morning, and was losing his voice on top of it, but he was nice enough to spend a some minutes with us chatting up a few of his myriad of companies. We requested to speak to him about Virgin Galactic, but he isn't allowed to comment on the current situation due to an ongoing investigation into the explosion at Scaled Composites.Thank you for talking with us today. Congratulations on the flight!Thank you very much.How are you liking it?[Laughs] Well, I'm biased. And we've spent years and years trying to get this Virgin born and off the ground, and so many people have put so much time and effort and sweat and toil into it. Our competitors have tried to smother it at birth and make sure it never happened, but now it's finally happened. It's the perfect birth, I can't think of anything I'd change. She's a beautiful baby, has got beautiful eyes, and I'm very very proud of her, very proud of what everyone's done to get this.It's definitely been a well publicized fight to make this happen, what made it worth three and a half years to launch Virgin America?I think anybody who's traveled on the legacy carriers in America will know why people have to fight to try to compete with them. The quality of their service is almost non-existent. I wouldn't say that's particularly the fault of their crews, it's the tools that those crews have been given by their masters, or they haven't been given any tools, and the end result has been... If you look at any poll of the best airlines in the world, I've never seen an American carrier come anywhere but very very near the bottom. So, in a situation like that, it's right for Virgin to come in and shake up that industry. The very fact that we come in and we offer that equality will mean that will lift those legacy carriers, it'll be actually good for them. They'll have to compete back, and I'm sure they will. But, you know, it's up to our team that we always remain one step ahead.
Engadget interviews Sir Richard Branson!
Our own Paul Miller found himself jet-setting on Virgin America's inaugural flight with none other than Sir Richard Branson -- that's right, he's a knight and he could probably kick our asses -- of Virgin Group fame. Naturally, the topic of Virgin Mobile came up in the discussion. What does Sir Richard think of his little MVNO project here in the States? Read on to find out!
Deadly blast rocks Virgin Galactic rocket test
This week is quickly becoming a tough one for the aerospace industry, as just a day after NASA reported tampering on an ISS bound computer, an explosion at the Mojave Air and Space Port has claimed two lives and seriously injured four others. The blast reportedly occurred during a "test of a new rocket motor for SpaceShipTwo -- a spaceship being built for Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson's space tourism company." According to a spokeswoman for the spaceport, the blast was "on a remote pad" at an airport home to Scaled Composite (which is the builder of the first private manned rocket to reach space), but the firm's founder Burt Rutan wasn't in attendance when the "cold fire test" went awry.
Richard Branson touts revolutionary PC game download service
"This is a really exciting development for us, as it gives us the opportunity to do for PC games what iTunes has done for music," says Virgin mega boss, Richard Branson. We've all heard that one before, but Branson promises that his take on digitally distributed PC games will rely on top-notch technology to push it into the mainstream market. MCV reports that Virgin Games and Game Domain International have unveiled plans for a distribution platform called A World of My Own (AWOMO).A woah mow? The service is described as a 3D virtual world (likely the interface) built upon several key features, including quick download speeds -- supposedly you'll get your games in minutes, not hours -- and better security. Branson even goes as far as to say that the proposed technology will "revolutionise how the mass market will play games, and will give them more choice for less money." Koch Media has already pledged its support.Though it will be interesting to see just how the technology gets around download speeds (barring an artificial size limit, as was present in Xbox Live Arcade until a while ago), that factor alone won't be enough to break into a mass market already targeted by the likes of Gametap and Steam. Content is, as always, key. Until Virgin and GDI unveil a library of games and real specifics, their revolutionary proposition remains nebulous at best.
Stephen Hawking in space (space... space...)
Well-known theoretical physicist and all-around geek hero Stephen Hawking has told the press he plans to undertake a zero-gravity flight this year in preparation for a hopeful berth on Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic space tourist service when it launches in 2009. Hawking, who has the neurological disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, communicates via a blink-controlled computer and uses a high-tech wheelchair for mobility, making space flight somewhat challenging -- but Virgin Galactic spokesperson Stephen Attenborough said in a statement Monday that Branson is committed to working through the issues that need to be addressed in order to accomodate people with disabilities on his company's trips into suborbit. Cost of a two-hour suborbital spaceflight? $200,000. The look on the most famous cosmologist's face upon actually making it into space? Priceless.
Virgin Mobile poised to launch MVNO in China
Interfax China is reporting that Virgin Mobile is close to signing a partnership with wireless carrier China Unicom that would make the UK-based company the first foreign MVNO in post-WTO China. Although Virgin would still require approval from the Chinese government, which carefully scrutinizes all proposed foreign business presences, the company will benefit from past deals in which Spain's Telefonica and Germany's Vodafone have made invesments in domestic telecom firms. Virgin already has offices in Shanghai, and CEO Richard Branson recently told reporters to expect a Chinese launch this fall, so it would seem pretty likely that this venture, which is well over a year in the making, has the necessary government support to proceed.
