Branson Aims Mid-2018 Space Trip as Virgin Resumes Powered Tests – Bloomberg

More than 2 1/2 years after the fatal breakup of Virgin Galactics experimental rocket plane, Richard Branson is poised to revive powered test flights as the billionaire entrepreneur targets his first journey into space by the middle of next year.

Following the completion of a series of glide-only sorties, powered tests are set to take place every three weeks with the aim of extending them into space by November or December, Branson said in an interview. After his own flight, full commercial passenger operations should start by the end of 2018, he said.

QuickTake The New Space Race

Bransons update is the most detailed since the October 2014 crash of Virgin Galactics original SpaceShipTwo, in which co-pilot Michael Alsbury died when the craft was torn apart after he prematurely unlocked a braking mechanism. While the accident in the Mojave Desert came just months before the planned maiden commercial flight, Branson said the appetite for travel to the edge of space remains undimmed, leaving room for a number of competitors.

We will never be able to build enough spaceships, Branson said Wednesday in Hong Kong following the introduction of Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd. flights from Melbourne. The demand is enormous.

The Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo at the Farnborough International Air Show in Farnborough, U.K. in 2012.

Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

Branson was an early leader in the new space race after founding Virgin Galactic in 2004. Since then, rivals like the Jeff Bezos-backed Blue Origin LLC and Elon Musks Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, have gained momentum by focusing on reusable rockets to cut the cost of space travel.

On Wednesday, SpaceX successfully launched its 10th Falcon 9 rocket of 2017, little more than a week after sending a total of 11 communication satellites using two rockets, whose first-stage boosters were recovered for reuse later. Musks company has contracts with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration valued at about $4.2 billion to transport astronauts and supplies to the Space Station.

Blue Origins New Shepard rocket has flown to suborbital space five times since November 2015. Suborbital space is high enough for passengers to experience weightlessness, but not high enough to orbit the Earth.

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Branson, who turns 67 on July 18, said theres a role for various launch systems, especially in the deployment of satellites, viewed as a likely mainstay of Virgin Galactics future business. The companys Virgin Orbit arm is working on a two-stage air-launched rocket that would carry small satellites, with test rockets set to be dropped from an aircraft in the first quarter of 2018, the Briton said.

There is definitely the demand for all three, Branson said of the competing ventures. We can take off at 24-hours notice, put a couple of satellites up and come back again. With ground-based rockets, theres quite a long waiting time.Elon has bigger rockets, so he has advantages there.

Branson declined to comment directly on Donald Trumps June 30 announcement that hell revive a Cold War-era council that helped shape space policy, or on theU.S. presidents suggestion that private companies are set to play an important role in the next phase of space technology.

I think myself and Jeff Bezos and Elon are just getting on with it, he said. I dont think Ive heard of anything majorly exciting thats come out of the administration as far as space is concerned, but maybe theyll surprise us.

Virgin Galactic will also play a role in developing elements of Boom Technologiess planned supersonic plane, Branson said, and will build parts of the XB-1 demonstrator on which the U.S. startup plans to commence work before the end of this year, according to

Branson, a vocal opponent of the U.K. leaving the European Union, said hes hopeful the country is now headed for a Brexit kinder to business following the outcome of Mays general election, which left the ruling Conservatives with fewer seats and dependent on the support of a smaller party.

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Branson Aims Mid-2018 Space Trip as Virgin Resumes Powered Tests - Bloomberg