Brian Binnie

Mojave, CA, April 3, 2014 (XCOR PR) – XCOR Aerospace announced today that celebrated aviator, test pilot, engineer and commercial astronaut Brian Binnie has joined the company as Senior Test Pilot.

As Senior Test Pilot, Binnie will be working with another celebrated pilot and astronaut, XCOR Chief Test Pilot and former Space Shuttle Pilot and Commander, US Air Force Colonel (Ret.) Richard (Rick) Searfoss.

“Brian and I have been friends and colleagues for many years and I have always wanted to work together in a flying environment,” noted Searfoss. “Combining our backgrounds as government and commercial astronauts and our broad experience across a number of rocket powered craft, I feel this builds on XCOR’s strong culture that emphasizes safety and professionalism.”

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Ten years ago, SpaceShipOne flew under power for the first time, breaking the sound barrier in the skies over Mojave and commencing a successful series of flights that culminated in the winning of the $10 million Ansari X Prize. Scaled Composites chose Dec. 17, 2003 — the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers historic first powered flight — to light the candle on their suborbital space plane. Pilot Brian Binnie […]

A few interviews of note on the beautiful second day of May: Scaled Composites Test Pilot Brian Binnie talks to Jim Clash at AskMen.com. Bob Richards talks about Moon Express and the Google Lunar X Prize at evadot.com. Bruce Pittman of the NASA Ames Space Portal discusses commercial space at Moonandback.com.

Dubai Seen Ripe for Space Tourism Xpress “Speaking at the [Orion] Congress, Brian Binnie, test pilot of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipOne (SS1), the prototype of what is poised to become the first commercial carrier for tourists in the orbit, said: ‘Dubai is perfectly positioned to be at the leading edge of this [space] industry.’” Dubai Could be Take-off Point for Space Tourism Khaleej Times “The cradle of civilisation could form the […]