Jan 22
If you’re one of the 700 or so people who bought tickets to fly to outer space on Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic rockets
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Nov 22
Congratulations to all aspiring crypto-currency cosmonauts out there; you’ll soon be able to use Bitcoin, everyone’s favorite pseudomonetary bubble, to book flights on Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic space boats.
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Nov 22
As the value and credibility of Bitcoin continues to skyrocket, Virgin founder Richard Branson now wants to let people use the digital currency to finance a flight into space. Ahead of its first trips next year, Virgin Galactic has already had one “future astronaut” from Hawaii book a Bitcoin-funded ticket and hopes that its affluent clientele will follow suit. An investor himself, Branson has been pushing for governments to regulate the peer-to-peer payment system and believes that today’s announcement will give it more credibility. Neither Virgin Galactic nor Branson has indicated just how many Bitcoins you’ll need before you get a return ticket to the heavens, but we suspect this isn’t the future that Gene Roddenberry was planning.
Filed under: Internet
Via: CNBC
Source: Virgin
Oct 11
There are rich people. There are multi-millionaires. And then there’s Richard Branson. The forever-young fellow is a cartoon character of a billionaire with everything from his own space tourism company to his own private island. But it’s cool because he’s willing to share.
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Sep 06
This is what a Virgin Galactic supersonic flight with the SpaceShipTwo looks like, up close and personal. It’s not quite space, but it’s still damn gorgeous to watch.
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Apr 24
Richard Branson: eccentric billionaire, adrenaline junky, sworn enemy of neckties, and now—matchmaker. That’s right; Richard Branson wants to get you laid. What’s more, he wants to get you laid in the sky. More »
Jul 19
Virgin Mobile USA opening flagship Chicago store, selling ‘culture’ on top of phones
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Virgin Mobile USA is adding actual bricks and mortar to its primary selling channels — the internet and box stores — but said that a new flagship Chicago store will not just be about the phones. The location has been set up like a casual, music-themed lounge, where customers can recline while testing devices and salespeople will run workshops on subjects like apps and how to install them. The Sprint-owned company will add 14 more locations in the city by summer’s end and hopes to use the launch as an archetype for key stores in its other major market cities. The concept sounds a bit like a certain other starkly designed iChain — but the rock ‘n’ roll decor is pure Branson.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs
Virgin Mobile USA opening flagship Chicago store, selling ‘culture’ on top of phones originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jul 2012 09:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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NY Times, Chicago Tribune | Email this | Comments
Jul 15
Richard Branson confirms Virgin Galactic’s first space tourism flight will launch next year with him on board
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Richard Branson has long said that he’d be on board Virgin Galactic’s first commercial space tourism flight, and he’s now confirmed that will take place sometime next year with his two adult children along for the ride (a bit of a delay from the company’s original 2011 target). That trip will of course be made with the company’s SpaceShipTwo craft, which has already completed a number of test flights, and which is capable of flying 100 kilometers (or just over 60 miles) above the Earth for a planned two and a half hour flight with five minutes of weightlessness. As the AP notes, some 529 people have already signed up for the $200,000 per person rides into space, each of whom will have to take part in a week of training prior to their trip. Bookings can still be made on Virgin Galactic’s website.
Filed under: Transportation
Richard Branson confirms Virgin Galactic’s first space tourism flight will launch next year with him on board originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 Jul 2012 16:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The Verge | AP (Yahoo News), Virgin Galactic | Email this | Comments
Jul 11
Building a satellite, that’s not really much of a problem anymore. Getting them launched, well, that’s what separates the big boys from the wannabes. Virgin’s Richard Branson believes he has the answer to that — LauncherOne. The delivery system for Earth orbiters is based around the WhiteKnightTwo, the same launch platform used by SpaceShipTwo to reach its sub-orbital heights. The tube-like rocket of the LauncherOne is carried up to 50,000 feet by its mother ship, before detaching and initiating its two-stage rocket engines. The current design is capable of delivering 500-pound payloads into Low Earth Orbit, while lighter satellites of 225 pounds could reach Sun-Synchronous Low Earth Orbit. Virgin Galactic says it has already signed up its first customers, including SkyBox Imaging and GeoOptics. Sadly, there’s no word on when or how much it’ll cost to get the spy satellite you built in your backyard placed in the heavens. Check out the video and the PR after the break.
Update: We now know another of Virgin Galactic’s customers. Asteroid mining startup Planetary Resources has announced that it will “launch several constellations of Arkyd-100 Series spacecraft in the coming years aboard LauncherOne.”
Continue reading Virgin Galactic unveils LauncherOne satellite vehicle
Filed under: Transportation
Virgin Galactic unveils LauncherOne satellite vehicle originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Jul 2012 15:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Jul 11
Virgin Galactic’s LauncherOne Aims To Make Satellite Launch Affordable [Video]
Posted in: Today's Chili
Richard Brandson has unveiled Virgin Galactic’s latest product called LauncherOne. It is a satellite launch platform that has been designed to be cheaper and more efficient than traditional rocket-based launchers. To achieve its goals, LauncherOne supports relatively small 500lbs satellites, and instead of launching them vertically from the ground, Virgin Galatic uses a special plane to bring the launcher as high as possible before firing the final rocket into orbit.
Traditional rockets are typically launched from near the equator. It’s great to get the payload in space, but the satellite may have to move with its own fuel from there to whichever final orbit it needs to be. To do that, it needs to carry more fuel and therefore be heavier and more expensive to build/launch. Virgin says that LauncherOne can be launched from anywhere, and can match the final orbit in a more efficient way.
Testing is still going on, but Virgin Galactic hopes that by the time things are ready for business, LauncherOne will be so “cheap” that even Universities can have their own satellites launched into space. Today, only the richest countries and companies can afford to do so. Video introduction in the full post. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Waldo Canyon Fire scar viewed from space, China successfully docks manned space capsule on orbiting module,
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