Space is Virgin territory. So says Sir Richard Branson. Bloomberg Boot Camp, a report on today's technology. Branson's Virgin Galactic has unveiled the designs for SpaceShip Two… and WhiteKnight Two….a twin fuselage aircraft that will carry the the spaceship… to launch altitude. More than 200 passengers have signed up…for the 200 thousand dollar…suborbital flights…including Branson and his family…
"Yes, my parents and my children have all signed up and I've signed up to go with them." This is going to be all together? "We plan to make it a family affair."
Branson has launched a wide range of businesses. Launching himself and his family…is quite another thing and speaks to his confidence in the safety of the SpaceShip being built by Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites. About his expectations for making money from Virgin Galactic, Branson says…
"To be perfectly honest, I very rarely go into businesses with the profit motive in mind. What I try to do is create unique businesses that the public will like and if they like it, then we can pay the bills, we can make a profit at the end of it. And I think if we can develop a reusable spaceship that gives people return tickets into space, I think it will be very profitable."
Sir Richard Branson…who is hopeful the testing will be completed and flights will begin within two years. Bloomberg Boot Camp, I'm Fred Fishkin.