By Tracy Norris

Do you fancy being on the first commercial flight into space, powered only by laughing gas and rubber?  85,000 potential customers have already registered to be the first customers on Virgin Galactic’s White Knight, Spaceship One to do just that. 

For a mere $200,000 you too can experience a two and a half hour flight that will leave the earth’s atmosphere and allow you to experience weightlessness.  According to  Will Whitehorn, Virgin Galactic’s President, you will then “return to earth to receive the official U.S. Government astronaut wings and a nice cup of tea”!

Whitehorn delivered his lecture to an audience at Edinburgh Napier University this week on the Virgin Galactic project in which he reassured listeners that the cost of a ticket is expected to drop gradually to just $90,000 per person, making this a relatively ‘budget’ space travel option for the future.  To put this in context, the first commercial airplane flights at the turn of the 20th Century cost the equivalent of $85,000 in today’s money.

But space tourism is only one aspect of Whitehorn’s business model.  With a launch cost in the region of $1 million, versus N.A.S.A.’s shuttle cost of around $1 billion, Virgin Galactic is set to become the most affordable way to get people, satellites and equipment into space.

The White Knight, Spaceship One designed by Burt Rutan using his Scaled Composites materials, can potentially be used for scientific research, space training, technology tests and demonstrations, small satellite orbital launch as well as tourism.  A satellite launch currently costs N.A.S.A. around $50 million.  Virgin Galactic is aiming to get this cost down below $5 million.  They already have 7 space science customers signed up.  Whitehorn predicts an “industrial revolution in space”.

 The SpaceShip Two rocket that will be airborne launched from the mothership ‘Eve’  is due to be unveiled at Virgin Galactic’s Spaceport America in New Mexico on 7th December 2009, with a first flight scheduled for January 2010.    Whitehorn will be on board along with engineers, but the first commercial flight into space isn’t expected to take place for a further 14 months.

So, of the 300 passengers who have already paid a deposit of between $20 and $200k each to secure their place on board, who gets to be on the first commercial flight into space?  Richard Branson will of course be there.  If all goes according to plan, so will 91 year old Professor James Lovelock, the famous Gaia theorist and close friend and adviser to Branson.  Professor Stephen Hawking will also join them, health permitting.   According to Whitehorn, both world-renowned scientists will be the only passengers to be offered the flight free of charge, “Lovelock because he can’t afford it, and Hawking because he deserves it”.

By Tracy Norris

Do you fancy being on the first commercial flight into space, powered only by laughing gas and rubber?  85,000 potential customers have already registered to be the first customers on Virgin Galactic’s White Knight, Spaceship One to do just that.

For a mere $200,000 you can join the queue and experience a two and a half hour flight that will leave the earth’s atmosphere and allow you to experience weightlessness.  According to  Will Whitehorn, Virgin Galactic’s President, you will then “return to earth to receive the official U.S. Government astronaut wings and a nice cup of tea”!

Whitehorn delivered a lecture to an audience at Edinburgh Napier University this week on the Virgin Galactic project in which he reassured listeners that the cost of a ticket is expected to drop gradually to just $90,000 per person, making this a relatively ‘budget’ space travel option for the future.  To put this in context, the first commercial airplane flights in at the turn of the 20th Century cost the equivalent of $85,000 in today’s money.

But space tourism is only one aspect of Whitehorn’s business model.  With a launch cost in the region of $1 million, versus N.A.S.A.’s shuttle cost of around $1 billion, Virgin Galactic is set to become the most affordable way to get people, satellites and equipment into space.

The White Knight, Spaceship One designed by Burt Rutan using his Scaled Composites materials, can potentially be used for scientific research, space training, technology tests and demonstrations, small satellite orbital launch as well as tourism.  A satellite launch currently costs N.A.S.A. around $50 million.  Virgin Galactic are aiming to get this cost down below $5 million.  They already have 7 space science customers signed up.  The business model certainly looks like it will work but it was the space tourists who brought the critical early investment in.

The mothership is due to be unveiled on 7th December 2009, with a first flight scheduled for January 2010.    Whitehorn will be on board along with engineers, but the first commercial flight isn’t expected to take place for a further 14 months.

So who gets to be on the first commercial flight into space?  Richard Branson will of course be there.  If all goes according to plan, so will 91 year old Professor James Lovelock, the famous Gaia theorist and close friend and adviser to Branson.  Professor Stephen Hawking will also be aboard, health permitting.   According to Whitehorn, neither world-renowned scientist will have to pay for the flight, “Lovelock because he can’t afford it, and Hawking because he deserves it”.

Oshkosh, Wisconsin

To help you understand what you are looking at, I decided to include this You Tube video.

I had been at EAA Airventure about two hours when my dad pointed out that he could see White Knight Two way down at the other end of the airfield.  I didn’t know it at the time because I’m not that familiar with the layout of the airfield at Oshkosh, but White Knight Two sat on runway 27 (two seven) waiting to take-off.  We listened as the announcer on the loudspeaker announced Burt Rutan.  The chief designer of White Knight One, Mr. Rutan quickly pointed out that he did not design White-Knight Two, which is part of a company owned by Sir Richard Bransom called Virgin Galactic. 

The jet-plane portion, without the shuttle hanging from the middle, flew into Oshkosh Monday.

And much to my delight, while Mr. Rutan talked about White Knight Two, it took off.

Circled the airfield several times…

Displaying its power and beauty…

Showed its landing gear to the tower and then landed.

It taxied to where I stood.

Giving me a great look at this powerful jet…

with very beautiful nose-art.

Look closely through the window and you can see the pilot.

That’s the pilot’s hatch.

That’s the owner, Sir Richard Bransom.

Fecha: 21 de junio de 2009

Este Viernes comenzó en el desierto de Nuevo Méjico la construcción del primer aereopuerto espacial que se llamará Spaceport América y que permitirá los vuelos espaciales a 150.000 euros el billete a partir de 2011. Sin embargo los vuelos espaciale sse empezarán a desarrollar un año antes, en el segundo semestre de 2010 desde el aereopuerto de Mojave, un lugar provisional hasta que esté disponible el SpacePort América.

Aunque todo partió de 2001 cuando el inteniero aeronaútico Burt Rutan decidió construir el SpaceShip One (SS1), el proyecto tomó tintes comerciales cuando Richard Branson (Virgin) decidió entrar en el negocio e invertir 240 millones de euros en 2004, de los cuáles ya ha recuperado 179 con la lista de 300 turistas espaciales dispuestos a pagar el billete entre los que se encuentran personajes populares como Rubens Barrichelo, Victoria Principal, Stephen Hawking o Niki Lauda.

La empresa que operará comercialmente los primeros vuelos espaciales se llama Virgin Galactic, y el avión encargado de todo esto es el SpaceShip Two (SS2) con capacidad para 6 pasajeros y 2 pilotos.

Realizar un vuelo espacial de momento no es muy similar a los vuelos aéreos que conocemos. No se puede llegar muy justo al puerto espacial, son necesarios 3 días de antelación, tiempo en el que el pasajero se aloja en el Astronaut Hotel y se somete a diferentes pruebas médicas y clases de simulación para acostumbrar al cuerpo a las sensaciones, aunque nadie es rechazado por condiciones médicas. El día del despegue la SS2 va colgada literalmente de una nave mayor, la WK2 (WhiteNight Two) que eleva la SS2 hasta unos 15 km (la altura máxima de cualquier vuelo comercial. A partir de ahí la SS2 enciende su único motor que durante 80 segundos la eleva a velocidad mach 3 a 110 km de altura, 10 km más del límite establecido para considerar el vuelo como espacial (a 100 km de altura se producen las auroras boreales). La nave permanece durante 90 segundos con una fuerza de gravedad 6GZ que se considera gravedad cero. A partir de ahí comienza el descenso a una velocidad de mach 3,5. Como datos significativo comentar que el vuelo tripulado que mayor altura ha alcanzado fue el número 91 desarrollado por el Bell X-15 con 107,96 km el 22 de agosto de 1968.

Aunque se va a comenzar con un único vuelo diario (el primer año ya está completo), Virgin Galactic quiere llegar a operar dos vuelos diarios con el SS2, lo que generará beneficios a partir de finales de 2010.

This airplane achieved the goal of flying around the world non-stop without refueling.  Stuffed inside this tiny cockpit, Dick Rutan and Jeanna Yeager accomplished the goal in a little over 9 days.

Using composite materials, designer Burt Rutan built an airplane that weighed less than a thousand pounds, however its gross weight at take-off fully fueled was over nine thousand pounds.  The flight began with over seven thousand pounds of fuel and ended with only a hundred and forty pounds of fuel remaining.

Crammed into this tiny cockpit one pilot would fly the plane while the other rested.  Neither pilot got much rest and the difficult trip proved physically and emotionally draining, while ground crews encouraged the pilots and meteorologists from around the world helped steer them clear of weather.  A truly amazing test of man and machine’s endurance.

For more information about this plane see:  http://www.airventuremuseum.org/collection/aircraft/Scaled%20Composites-Rutan%20Voyager.asp#TopOfPage

The Ansari X-Prize challenged anyone to build a privately-owned spaceship — one that would actually fly into space.  The spaceship, in order to win the Ansari X-Prize would have to fly into space under its own power, return to Earth, safely land and then within two weeks do it again.  Pictured here is the scale model replica of Spaceship One located at EAA Air Venture Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.  The actual Spaceship One can be found at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.

On October 4, 2004; Spaceship One, designed by Burt Rutan (President, Scaled Composites) and piloted by Brian Binnie, achieved an altitude of 367,442 feet in the record setting event.

On Sep 29, 2004 – Pilot Mike Melvill makes the first of two X-Prize competition flights, reaching an altitude of 337,500 feet (63.9 miles).

Oct 4, 2004 – Pilot Brian Binnie makes the second of two X-Prize competition flights, reaching an altitude of 367,442 feet (69.6 miles), winning the $10 million X-Prize. Brian also broke the 42-year old altitude record of 354,200 feet held by the X-15.

For more information see: http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/

Quando vê o lançamento de um ônibus espacial ou vídeos antigos da Apollo sobre pousos lunares, talvez sonhe viajar para o espaço. No passado, isso era privilégio de astronautas altamente treinados e alguns poucos passageiros pagantes. Mas o sonho pode se tornar realidade para mais pessoas com a criação de uma nova companhia espacial, a Virgin Galactic. Para começar, vai ser preciso pagar cerca de US$ 100 mil. De fato, não é barato, mas é bem melhor do que os US$ 25 milhões que outros turistas espaciais tiveram que desembolsar.

Sir Richard Branson (esquerda) e Burt Rutan, os idealizadores da Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic é a marca do bilionário britânico Richard Branson. Ele se associou a Burt Rutan – projetista da SpaceShipOne, vencedora do Ansari X Prize – a fim de montar uma frota de espaçonaves para levar passageiros para o espaço.

A Virgin Galactic comprou os direitos sobre o projeto e tecnologias da SpaceShipOne para criar duas novas naves, a SpaceShipTwo e o WhiteKnightTwo (turbojato que conduz a SpaceShipTwo). As naves foram apresentadas em janeiro de 2008, mas os passageiros começaram a fazer reservas em 2005. Acredita-se que, por volta do ano de 2010, eles finalmente partirão rumo ao espaço.

A SpaceShipTwo leva passageiros em um vôo radical de duas horas e meia em que a nave sobe cerca de 109 quilômetros acima da Terra e permite aos passageiros uma experiência de quatro a cinco minutos de gravidade zero (como bônus, os passageiros oficialmente se tornam astronautas viajando mais de 80 quilômetros no espaço). Depois de um breve vôo suborbital, a espaçonave reentra na atmosfera e retorna à Terra.

Rutan e Branson acreditam que o sucesso das naves abriu as portas para o turismo espacial, permitindo vôos com segurança e a criação de um mercado de turismo espacial.

Passageiros da Virgin Galactic

A Virgin Galactic começou a fazer reservas de passageiros em 2005. Qualquer pessoa que pague o valor e passe no exame físico pode voar. Passageiros interessados podem reservar seus vôos através do site da Virgin Galactic ou através de agências autorizadas no mundo todo.

• Fundadores – os primeiros 100 passageiros a voar pagaram US$ 200 mil. Esse grupo já está fechado.
• Pioneiros – passageiros que voarão no primeiro ano de operação pagarão de US$ 100 mil a US$ 175 mil. Nesse caso, um depósito de US$ 20 mil precisa ser feito.
• Viajantes – os vôos seguintes provavelmente vão ser mais baratos, mas a tarifa ainda não foi definida.

Obviamente, esses custos são significativamente inferiores aos US$ 20 milhões que os turistas espaciais Dennis Tito (2001) e Mark Shuttleworth (2002) pagaram para voar na espaçonave russa Soyuz até a estação espacial internacional.

Sir Richard Branson aprova o modelo em escala da SpaceShipTwo em 2006

Passageiros interessados precisam fazer três dias de treinamento e passar por um exame físico antes de voar. Em janeiro de 2008, cerca de 80 pessoas iniciaram o treinamento que inclui girar em uma centrífuga a 3 a 4 Gs. Treinos adicionais envolvem vôos com gravidade zero a bordo do WK2 para que os passageiros se familiarizem com a experiência de gravidade zero. Quando as operações começarem pra valer, esse treinamento acontecerá no Spaceport America.

A Virgin Galactic tem destacado a segurança nos modelos WK2 e SS2. Por exemplo, o motor híbrido do foguete não requer armazenamento de propelentes explosivos. O lançamento da SS2 no ar não expõe os passageiros aos riscos associados aos de um lançamento de foguete – se a ignição falhar, a SS2 pode voar de volta até aterrissar com segurança. Planar é uma forma segura de reentrar na atmosfera sem se submeter ao alto calor que um ônibus espacial enfrenta (a SS2 não atinge, no entanto, a mesma velocidade de um ônibus espacial).

A Virgin Galactic é a primeira companhia do gênero, mas outros planejam competir no promissor mercado do turismo espacial.

• O fundador da Amazon.com, Jeff Bezos, está investindo na Blue Origin, que tem testado seu novo veículo Shepard com a esperança de lançar vôos espaciais suborbitais.
• O fundador da PayPal, Elon Musk, lançou a Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) em 2002 para desenvolver novos foguetes para vôos espaciais comerciais – ele vislumbra vôos turísticos orbitais.
• O magnata de hotéis Robert Bigelow fundou a Bigelow Aerospace para construir um hotel espacial.
• A empresa aeroespacial européia EADS fundou a Astrium para desenvolver aviões e turismo espaciais.

Fonte: http://ciencia.hsw.uol.com.br/

Latest Update: August,12th 2009

Michael Schumacher
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/564040-schumacher-latest-to-sign-up-for-galactic-trip

The list is a secret. Yet a few names are known.  This is the most comprehensive list on the internet and I hope I will be able to complete it over the next couple of months. If you come accross any passengers names please send email to petepalme@gmail.com or leave it in the comment section.
Come and join the spaceship group on Linkedin:

16 Flights to carry all 100 Founders in a period of 8 months. This means
4 of the founders act as copilots otherwise a minimum of 17 flights would carry all 100 Founders.
1st official Flight:
1) The first passengers: Sir Richard Branson, Sam Branson (son) Holly Branson (daughter) and parents  (UK)
Owner of Virgin and Virgin Galactic
Date of flight: late 2009 or 2010
No Linkedin Profile, Article in Wikipedia
Pilot of the flight: Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger
Place of start: Majave-Dessert in California

Speculation: Will Anousheh Ansari be on the first flight or James Lovelock

2) -100) Passengers who deposited the full amount of 200 000 USD are called Virgin Galactic Founders.

Second official flight togther with Sir Richard Branson:
2) Victoria Principal in USA.
Actress
Date of flight: 2009/2010
Article on Wikipedia

3) Brian Singer in USA.
Hollywood Director
Date of flight: 2009/2010

4) Princess Beatrice  of York (UK)
Date of flight: 2009/2010
Article on Wikipedia

5) Ibrahim Sharaf  (United Arab Emirates)
Sharaf Group  President
Date of flight: 2009/2010

6) Anousheh Ansari (USA) Origin: Iran
Electrical Engineer
Date of flight: 2009/2010
Article on Wikipedia    Profile on Linkedin
Website

Next shuttles: ??

??) Wiliam Shatner (USA)
Actor
Date of flight: 2009/2010
Article on Wikipedia

??) Sigourney Weaver
Actress
Date of flight: 2009/2010
Article on Wikipedia

??) Loretta Hildago Whitesides (USA)
Director of US Operations, Space Generation Advisory Council
Date of flight: ??
Profile on Linkedin
??) George Whitesides (USA)
Executive Director at National Space Society
Date of flight: ??
Profile on Linkedin

??) Matthew D. Upchurch (USA)
Virtuoso CEO
Date of flight: A lottery system will determine Upchurch’s official launch date  Travel Agency: Virtuoso
Profile on Linkedin

??) Alan Walton (USA)
Date of flight: 2009/2010

??) Ken Baxter (USA)
Real Estate Marketing Executive
Date of flight: ??
Profile on Linkedin

??) Matthew Pritzker (USA)
Owner of Venture Capital firm
Date of flight: ??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

??) Glenys Ambe (Australia)
Fashion Retailer
Date of flight: ??

??) Mark Rocket (New Zealand)
Owner at Avatar Ltd / NZS.com Ltd / Rocket Lab Ltd
Date of flight: 2009/2010
Profile on Linkedin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

??) Jackie Maw (New Zealand)
Realestate Agent
Date of flight: 2009/2010 ??) Igor Kutsenko (Russia)
Owner Advertising Agency
Date of flight: ??

??) Sergei Tyaglov (Russia)
Owner Advertising Agency
Date of flight: ??

??) ?? (China – Zhejiang province)
Date of flight: 2009/2010 

??) ?? (China)
Date of flight: 2009/2010

??) Craig Burkinshaw (UK)
Audley Travel Boss
Date of flight: ??
Profile on Linkedin 

??) Alan Watts (UK)
Managing director GE
First to trade in his 2 000 000 Frequent Virgin Flyer miles
Date of flight: 2009/2010
Profile on Linkedin

??) Trevor Beattie (UK)
Advertising
Date of flight: 2009/2010   

 

??)Bill Cullen (Ireland)
Country – Ireland
Irish businessman and philanthropist. He owned the Renault Ireland franchise until it was taken under more direct control by Renault in 2007. Reality TV Show host.
 
Wiki – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Cullen_(businessman)
 
Newspaper article about Bill cullen and Virgin Galactic; http://www.independent.ie/unsorted/features/rocket-man-1318322.html

??) Tom Higgins (Ireland)
Irish Psychics Live Boss
Date of flight: ??

?? ) Rubens Barrichello (Brazil)
Formula 1 Pilot
Article on Wikipedia

??) Xavier Gabriel (Spain)
Lottery Vendor
Date of flight: 2009/2010

??) Sonja Rohde (Germany)
Date of flight: 2009

??)  Peter Ulrich von May (Switzerland)
Asset Manager
Date of flight: 2009/2010  Travel Agency: ??
Interview

??) Noriaki Inami (Japan)
System Engineer
Date of flight: 2009/2010

??) ?? (Japan)
Date of flight: 2009/2010

?/) Namira Salim (Pakistan)
Artist and Humanitarian
Date of flight: 2009/2010
Interview

2 free tickets for:

??) Stephen Hawking (UK)
Astrophysicist
Date of flight: ?? 
Article on Wikipedia

??) James Lovelock (UK)
Scientist
Date of flight: 2010
Article on Wikipedia

Free ticket winner:
??) Doug Ramsburg (USA)
Date of flight: ??

1 ticket in exchange for work

??) Philippe Stark
Designer
Date of flight: ??
Article on Wikipedia

A video on myspace showing some of the founders after the training at NASTAR.
One of the founders in the centrifuge training.
Some more faces of the founder astronauts.
If you know the name please send to petepalme@gmail.com.

Status February 6, 2009:
A few customers have asked for their deposits back, including one person who lost all his money in the Bernard Madoff scandal. “He could say to us that actually we were one of only investments he’d made that hadn’t gone bad” because he was able to recover his $200,000, Whitehorn said.
Reference: http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1304/1

To ensure they can handle the 3 g on the way up, and up to 6 g on the way down, Virgin is testing its would-be space tourists’ resilience in a centrifuge. Two of the first 100 customers have failed the tests. “They weren’t medically up to it,” says Virgin president Will Whitehorn.Forces can get much higher, though.  Reference: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20026805.900-space-tourism-flies-into-a-legal-black-hole.html?full=true

101-500) Passengers who deposited at least 100 000 USD are called pioneers.

??) Paris Hiltion (USA)
Date of flight: ??
Article on Wikipedia

128)Edward Roski Jr (USA)
Real Estate Developer
Date of flight: ??     Travel Agent: Crack Buck – San Diego

501) onwards: Passengers who deposited 20 000 USD = 10% of ticket fee are called Voyager

??) Lina Borozdina-Birch in USA
Chemist
Date of flight: ??

??) Richard Laronde (USA)
Owner Event Planning Business
Date of flight: ??   Travel Agency: ASA in New York

??) ?? USA Origin: India

??) ?? USA Origin: India

??) John Criswick (Canada)
CEO Magmic Games
Date of flight
Profile on Linkedin

??) ?? (Canada)

??) ?? (Canada)

??) ?? (Canada)

??) ?? Auckland lottery-winner beneficiary (New Zealand)
Date of flight: ??

??) Franz Kaiser in Switzerland. Location: Egg
Date of flight:  2011   Travel Agency: Deluxetargets
Profile on Linkedin
Pilot of the flight: ??
Place of start: Majave-Dessert in California

??) ?? in Switzerland

??) ?? in Switzerland

??) ?? in Switzerland

??) ?? in Switzerland

??) Per Wimmer  (Denmark)
Investment Bank Owner
Date of flight: 2010
Profile on Linkedin

??) Parents of Igor Kutsenko (Russia)
Date of flight: ??

??) Timur Artemyev and his wife (Russia)
Date of flight: ??

??) ?? Russia

??) ?? Russia

??) ?? Russia

??) ?? Russia

??) ?? Russia

??) UK Origin: India

??) India

??) ?? China

??) ?? China

??) ?? China

??) ?? China

??) ?? China

??) ?? China

??) ?? China

??) ?? Japan

??) ?? Japan

552) Scott Borden in USA
Space Agent at Virgin Galactic, www.spaceagent.us
Date of flight: ??    Travel agency: www.spaceagent.us
has trained at the NASTAR center in Pennsylvania
Profile on Linkedin

Virgin is sticking by their ticket price of $200,000 and expects to offer lotteries and other means of democratizing the opportunity, including a reality-TV game show that is now under development.
http://www.popsci.com/military-aviation-space/article/2006-09/unveiled-virgin-galactics-new-ride

Speculations about passengers:

1) Madonna

2) Tom Hanks

3) Lewis Hamilton

4) Sheik with family

5) Peter Brabeck (Chairman Nestle)

CEO of Virgin Galactic: Will Whitehorn

References:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/2007-05-07-space-tourist_N.htm
Linkedin Search for Peoples with keyword Virgin Galctic
http://www.nzz.ch/nachrichten/panorama/destination_weltall_1.1926213.html
http://www.markrocket.com/
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080623/111778580.html
http://skinnymoose.com/adventurist/2008/10/28/paris-hilton-signs-up-for-virgin-galactics-first-sub-orbital-space-flight/
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/177889,branson-unveils-spaceship-two-design.html
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/12/20/europe/EU_GEN_Spain_Lucky_Stars.php
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-14927623.html
http://femalesoldiers.greyfalcon.us/Space.htm
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/IK02Df03.html
http://spaceagent.us/blog.html/14
http://spacetourists.blogspot.com/2008/03/lottery-winning-beneficiary-im-heading.html
http://www.virtuoso.com/The+Company/Virgin+Galactic+Forum+at+the+Nastar+Center/
http://first-irish-astronaut.net/article.aspx?more=1
http://www.personalspaceflight.info/2007/07/19/space-tourism-developments-in-canada-and-india/
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070718.wspace18/BNStory/specialTravel/home
http://www.money.co.uk/article/1002118-danish-banker-to-become-first-affordable-space-tourist.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5345872.stm
http://news.opodo.co.uk/articles/category/lighthearted_travel_news/2007-05-08/18141770-Space-tourist.php
http://www.space.com/news/060828_spaceshiptwo_next.html
http://www.skycontrol.net/airlines/sparks-fly-as-virgin-atlantic-announces-worlds-first-frequent-flyer-astronaut/
http://www.nastarcenter.com/news/view.php?volume=2&issue=3&article=96
http://ehotelier.com/hospitality-news/item.php?id=P14205
http://www.raumfahrt24.de/Artikel2/200512140764.html
http://www.tmm.de/top-magazin-hamburg/?p=495
http://www.parkavenuespacetravel.com/
http://www.ttgasia.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13309
http://www.chicagospace.org/ISDC2006.html
http://first-irish-astronaut.net/news.aspx?uid=89691a6b-a250-4151-80c4-1e857d7f56b9
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4263789a11.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/sciencenews/3322683/Science-Richard-Bransons-race-for-space-tourists.html
http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/media/90/cosmos-founders-be-australias-first-space-tourists
http://www.studentshangout.com/index.php?s=99b184bf40cc777570867429e07d2d94&showtopic=27783&pid=190017&st=0&#entry190017
http://spaceagent.us/blog.html?pg=5&cnt=5&t=a
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/editors-choice/2009/01/10/scotland-s-first-astronaut-on-his-trailblazing-journey-into-space-86908-21029675/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15921347/
http://travelvideo.tv/news/more.php?id=A10269_0_1_a2006111_Mhttp://www.parabolicarc.com/2009/04/27/virgin-galactic-aims-sell-50000-space-tourism-seats-10-years/ 
http://www.parabolicarc.com/2009/04/26/branson-signs-up-formula-1-racers-for-space-tourist-flights/
http://jv.gilead.org.il/forum/2008/01/0071.html

 

Further topics:
Article on Wikipedia on the manufacturer of spaceship two

How does the spaceship interior look like ?
http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2007/05/spaceship_2_int.html

What does the training look like ?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/09/03/virgin_space_tour_training_deal_inked/
Training at NASTAR: http://noolmusic.com/myspace_videos/centrifuge_nastar_virgin_galactic_bj.php

The future competitors are:
EADS Astrium, Rocketplane Limited, Space Adventures, and the Benson Space Company, Dassault Aviation

Spaceship Industry:
http://www.sete.gr/files/Ebook/2006/Dest._Space_Tourism_Goehlich.pdf
http://www.space-travellers.de/index.php?wohin=rocketplane
http://www.incredible-adventures.com/edgeofspace.html

Russia was the first country to pioneer space tourism! It started in 2001 to offer flights on the sojus rocket.

Travel Agencies:
Dubai headquartered, Sharaf Travel, the official Accredited Space Office for Virgin Galactic

The country that is home to the largest number of ticket buyers is the United States, followed by the United Kingdom, Japan, Russia, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Spain, and Ireland. In terms of the proportion of Virgin Galactic customers per capita, the top three countries are New Zealand, Ireland and Denmark.

Of the customers who have signed up so far, 15 percent are female, Wincer’s statistics show. Ten percent of total customers booked through a travel agent, but 30 percent of the bookings have been received via Virgin Galactic “Accredited Space Agents” — an initiative launched in January of this year, she said. Accredited Space Agents are registered travel agents who have been specially selected and fully trained on all aspects of the Virgin Galactic offering.

As for Accredited Space Agents (ASAs) around the world, the numbers are as follows:

• Australia has nine travel agencies and about 30 travel consultants.
• New Zealand has one national chain with 10 consultants.
• Japan has one agency with five consultants.
• The United States has 47 consultants from about 45 agencies, all of these are members of Virtuoso, a leading leisure travel network.
• Canada has six consultants from four agencies (who will be trained next week in Vancouver and are all Virtuoso members).
• The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has one agency with about 12 consultants.
• Then add one agency and two to three consultants from each of the following who are all being trained this week at the International Space University: Austria, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, the United Kingdom, Russia, Israel, and the Czech Republic.
  http://www.space.com/news/070703_virgingalactic_sales.html

spaceship one from Burt Rutan

??) Bill Cullen (Ireland)
Date of flight: 2009/2010
Irish businessman and philanthropist. He owned the Renault Ireland franchise until it was taken under more direct control by Renault in 2007. Reality TV Show host.
 
Wiki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Cullen_(businessman)

 
Newspaper article about Bill cullen and Virgin Galactic; http://www.independent.ie/unsorted/features/rocket-man-1318322.html

??) PJ King  (Ireland)
President PJ King Investments