VSS Enterprise on its first test flight. (Photo: Mark Greenberg)

Virgin’s Space Tourism Brings New Opportunities for Aerospace Firms
Birmingham Post

Richard Branson’s plans to make space tourism a commercial reality could open up a new industry for West Midland aerospace firms, according to a senior figure at Virgin Galactic.

Mr [Stephen] Attenborough said although the technology being developed to take passengers into space is American, aerospace firms all over the world could eventually tap into the opportunities it opens up.

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Cecil Field in Jacksonville.

The Jacksonville Daily record reports that the North Florida Transportation Planning Organization is considered a move to formally support the development of space tourism at Cecil Field in Jacksonville:

If it meets eligibility requirements, the backing would mean the transportation projects associated with the development could receive North Florida TPO allocated dollars.

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Three Congressional Democrats have written to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden in support of his upcoming trip to China to discuss cooperation on human spaceflight.

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NASA PRESS RELEASE

NASA has awarded Innovative Lunar Demonstrations Data (ILDD) contracts to six companies for the purchase of technical data resulting from industry efforts to develop vehicle capabilities and demonstrate end-to-end robotic lunar landing missions. The data from these contracts will inform the development of future human and robotic lander vehicles and exploration systems.

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Tom Baumbach, Dynetics President, and Tim Pickens, Rocket City Space Pioneers team leader, speak at the Google Lunar X PRIZE Summit on October 4, 2010. Thanks to Clark Lindsey at Hobby Space for finding these clips.

An interesting fact in this video: the Isle of Man’s ranking as the fifth most likely company to return to the moon is based on Odyssey Moon’s presence there. Bob Richards, the Google Lunar X Prize competitor’s founder and CEO, recently resigned saying that he had to focus on funded projects.

Some more Virgin Galactic  news: Richard Branson eyes Central Florida as a spaceport within about 10 years (Orlando Sentinel) Space.com Senior Writer Clara Moskowitz goes through 6 G astronaut training at NASTAR Five Toronto residents and seven Albertans have signed up for trips aboard SpaceShipTwo (Toronto Sun) New Zealand space tourism agents visit Spaceport America (Manawatu Standard)

PRATT & WHITNEY PRESS RELEASE

Pratt & Whitney received a $33.8 million contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop Constant Volume Combustion (CVC) engine technology under Phase II of the Vulcan advanced propulsion program.  Pratt & Whitney is a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX) company.

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Supersonic freefall bid put on hold CNET Felix Baumgartner’s quest to achieve a supersonic parachute jump has run into some legal turbulence. Energy drinks maker Red Bull, which is sponsoring the effort, said today that it is stopping the program “with immediate effect” pending the outcome of a “multimillion dollar lawsuit” filed earlier this year by a man claiming certain rights to the project. Working under the auspices of the […]

Flight Added to Shuttle Mission Houston Chronicle Even as President Barack Obama signed off Monday on plans to steer the nation’s space program toward Mars, Senate staffers on Capitol Hill reported growing speculation that the White House was preparing to replace NASA administrator Charles Bolden. Bolden, a former astronaut, has the reputation of being a can-do leader known for sometimes ignoring bureaucratic constraints. However, top administration officials have eased him […]

Artists conception of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft in orbit

SpaceFlightNow reports that there could be a funding gap upcoming in NASA’s Commercial Crew Development (CCDEV) programs:

Some companies could see a gap in funding between the first and second rounds of NASA’s procurement to help develop commercial crew transportation services for low Earth orbit, according to the agency’s top exploration official.

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NASASpaceFlight.com has a lengthy story about the people behind DIRECT, a shuttle-derived heavy lift vehicle that they have been pushing NASA to develop: The Direct movement – a group of professionals and non-professional engineers that created an architecture alternative to Constellation’s Ares vehicles – are ready to transition their movement, following the redirection of NASA’s future by lawmakers, which calls for a Space Launch System (SLS) based around a Shuttle […]