UPDATE: Sir Richard is not taking the competition very seriously — for now. ABC News reports that”Branson boasted this week that it will be at least five years before Virgin Galactic has serious rivals in the commercial space tourism race.”

In all that was going on during the Spaceport America dedication on Monday, I never had the chance to interview Richard Branson. But, apparently some people did. And it appears that Sir Richard is hearing some footsteps:

“We’re the only one with a system that has actually gone to space, and we’re the only one with a spaceport facility like this,” Branson said. “People need to think about that before they pay $100,000 to go to South America.”

Unless Hugo Chavez has some secret space plane project that only he and Branson know about, this could only be a reference to Space Expedition Curacao, which plans to begin commercial suborbital space tourism flights from the Caribbean island using XCOR’s Lynx vehicle sometime in 2014. Those flights will actually cost $95,000 per seat, but close enough.

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Well, New Mexico Space Week is at an end. The International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS) wrapped up yesterday here in Las Cruces. Some attendees are on a tour of Spaceport America this morning. Because I attended the terminal dedication ceremony on Monday, I saw little need to pay $75 to see the spaceport again.

Compared to Virgin Galactic’s gala event, the conference was rather quiet. The biggest news was made by NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver, who laid out in stark terms what will happen if Congress doesn’t fund the commercial crew program adequately. (I played a small role in this, incidentally; it was my questions she answered.)

The formulation goes like this: NASA needs $850 million this year to keep the program on track for crew missions by no later than 2016. The Senate wants to spend $500 million, the House $312 million. Garver said Congress can either pay American companies now, or send about $450 million to the Russians later when the schedule slips and we’re forced to continue to rely on the Soyuz spacecraft.

That’s pretty easy math and should be a slam dunk. But, then again, Congress has been flunking math class for 200 years now. Don’t hold your breath.

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House Science, Space and Technology Committee “NASA’s Commercial Crew Development Program: Accomplishments and Challenges” Oct. 26, 2011 10 a.m. EDT Panel 1 Mr. John Elbon, Vice President and General Manger, Space Exploration Division, The Boeing Company Mr. Steve Lindsey, Director, Space Exploration, Sierra Nevada Space Systems Mr. Elon Musk, CEO and CTO, Space Exploration Technologies Mr. Charles Precourt, Vice President and General Manager, ATK Space Launch Systems Mr. George Sowers, […]

MARS PR — Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell visited the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops Island on October 17th. During the governor’s campaign, he set a goal to make the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport the top commercial spaceport in the country, calling for a 10-fold increase in base funding for the spaceport operations. More than 16,000 rockets have launched from the Wallops Flight Facility over the last 55 years. This year, Governor […]

I caught up with Space Expedition Curacao Founder Harry Van Hulten during the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight in New Mexico. His company plans to begin flying space tourists on suborbital flights on XCOR’s Lynx vehicle from the Caribbean island beginning in 2014.

Orbital Sciences Corporation announced today that its new Taurus II rocket will not fly in December as planned due to delays at its new launch complex in Virginia: The company achieved important milestones in its Taurus II and Cygnus development programs in the last three months. Highlights included the delivery of the first pressurized cargo module for the Cygnus spacecraft to the Wallops Island launch site and the resumption of […]

Leonard David has an update on the stall experienced by SpaceShipTwo during its most recent test flight:

According to one observer of the craft’s rapid descent, “It dropped like a rock and went straight down. Typically, it takes 11 minutes to land, but this time it was only seven minutes before they were on the ground. It was a nail-biter … but that’s how you learn.”

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SpaceX PR — Hawthorne, CA – Today, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) announced it has successfully completed the preliminary design review of its revolutionary launch abort system, a system designed for manned missions using its Dragon spacecraft. This represents a major step toward creating an American-made successor to the Space Shuttle.

NASA’s approval of the latest design review marks the fourth successfully completed milestone under the agency’s Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program and demonstrates the innovation that’s possible when NASA partners with the private sector.

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Lori Garver is up first….Tweeting talk at @spacecom

We’re back from lunch here in Las Cruces. A very nice lunch of beef, tuna steaks, salad and some delicious — if mysterious — desserts. No margaritas, sadly, which is probably a good thing given the first afternoon session: building the commercial space supply chain. SUPPLY CHAIN?! The speakers are interesting, anyway: Tim Pickens of Dynetics and Mark Sirangelo of Sierra Nevada. Sirangelo Decided not to build Dream Chaser by […]