NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PRESS RELEASE

History was made Sunday, October 10, on the path to the launch of the first commercial spaceliner with news of the first successful glide involving the mother ship, WhiteKnightTwo, and smaller spaceship, the VSS Enterprise, which safely separated at an altitude of 40,000 feet before returning to earth. The process of reaching this milestone has been documented for the premiere of National Geographic Channel’s (NGC) highly anticipated four-part series, Virgin Galactic, which is documenting the historic process and milestones leading up to the first commercial space flight.

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Video of the SpaceShipTwo flight on Sunday.

VIRGIN GALACTIC PRESS RELEASE

Virgin Galactic, the US company developing the world’s first commercial manned space flight system and tourism business, is delighted to announce the successful completion today of the first piloted free flight of SpaceShipTwo, named the VSS Enterprise. The spaceship was released from its mothership at an altitude of 45,000 ft  (13,700 metres).
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CSF PRESS RELEASE

The Commercial Spaceflight Federation is pleased to congratulate Scaled Composites, Virgin Galactic, and the SpaceShipTwo team for successfully conducting today’s first-ever glide flight of the SpaceShipTwo suborbital spacecraft. Over the Mojave Desert this morning, Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo was released from carrier aircraft WhiteKnightTwo at an altitude of 45,000 ft. and descended for about 15 minutes before landing at the Mojave Air and Space Port.

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Reports out of Mojave say that Scaled Composites’ SpaceShipTwo has made its first solo glide flight — a major milestone on the way to Virgin Galactic’s commercial suborbital flights. Space.com’s Leonard David reports: Though the craft did not reach space, it was a major milestone for the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo, which flew in glide mode for some 15 minutes once released from its carrier plane, WhiteKnightTwo, according Bill Deaver, an […]

SWF PRESS RELEASE
Sept. 30, 2010

Secure World Foundation is pleased to announce the availability of a new analysis of President Barack Obama’s National Space Policy (NSP).

The new NSP released in June is a White House directive that provides broad guidance on how the United States intends to conduct activities in outer space.

This review — The 2010 Obama Space Policy: Sustainability, International Engagement and Stability in Space — has been authored by Victoria Samson, Director of the Secure World Foundation’s Washington, D.C. Office.

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NASA Administrator Charles Bolden

Space News has a bit more on NASA Administrator Charles Bolden’s upcoming trip to China:

Damon Wells, a senior space policy analyst in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, cautioned that numerous legal and policy challenges must be addressed before the United States can forge a cooperative partnership in human spaceflight with the Chinese. During a two-day meeting of the U.S. Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee here Oct. 6-7, Wells made no mention of Bolden’s travel plans, but said in response to a committee member’s question that inviting Beijing to participate in the international space station program is “a very complex issue” here and in China.

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X Prize Founder Peter Diamandis just Tweeted: “Flying into Zero G today with James Cameron, Jim Gianopulos, Craig Venter, Elon Musk and a number of X PRIZE trustees and donors!” Cameron, of course, is the director of “Avatar.” Elon Musk is founder of SpaceX and CEO of Tesla Motors. Craig Venter is a venture capitalist and biologist best known for his pioneering work in sequencing the human genome and creating […]

SWF PRESS RELEASE

Nearly 3,000 experts from around the globe met at the 61st International Astronautical Congress (IAC) to discuss every facet of 21st century space activity.

Held in Prague, Czech Republic from September 27-October 1, the meeting’s theme was “Space for human benefit and exploration” with Secure World Foundation (SWF) taking a leading role in furthering the dialogue on a wide-range of space issues.

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Jupiter Direct Launcher Variants

It looks like a battle is heating up over exactly the type of heavy-lift vehicle that NASA will build. The Congressional authorization bill directs NASA to make use of technology developed for the Constellation and space shuttle programs. That means solid rockets designed in Alabama and built by ATK in Utah, thus preserving thousands of jobs in key Congressional districts. However, NASA has some other ideas.

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U.S. Lawmaker Balks at NASA Chief’s China Visit Space News NASA Administrator Charles Bolden’s plan to visit China this month for high-level talks about possible cooperation on human spaceflight has prompted a senior Republican appropriator to request a security briefing on the trip before it happens. In an Oct. 5 letter to the NASA chief, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) said he strongly opposes any partnership with Beijing that involves human […]

Glamorous spy sees Russian rocket blast off for ISS
AFP

A newly modernised Russian Soyuz rocket carrying three astronauts blasted off Friday for the International Space Station, watched in an unexpected twist by glamorous spy Anna Chapman.

The rocket, carrying two Russians and an American, took off into the night sky on schedule at 3:11 am Moscow time (23:11 GMT Thursday) from Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

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