Important Innovations

  Sir Richard Branson Building Flying Taxi Fleet From UK's Vertical Aerospace                                                                           Source:  Vertical Aerospace Branson's Plans for Flying Taxis Virgin Atlantic founder Sir Richard Branson is looking to expand his fleet of aircraft and spacecraft.  He is investing in the UK air taxi company Vertical Aerospace and is planning on buying a fleet of their air taxis. The air taxis are a strategic addition to his Virgin Atlantic aircraft and his Virgin Galactic spacecraft.  Branson has entered into a partnership with Vertical Aerospace to purchase 150 flying taxi eVTOLS, which are electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles. Entrepreneur Branson, whose expertise is aviation and aerospace, provides a ringing endorsement to the future of eVTOL, flying taxi travel. Technical Details on the eVTOL VA-X4 The flying taxis that Branson is purchasing are the VA-X4.  Vertical Aerospace was founded and is run by the highly s

Sir Richard Branson Building Flying Taxi Fleet From UK's Vertical Aerospace                                                                Source:  Vertical Aerospace Branson's Plans for Flying Taxis Virgin Atlantic founder Sir Richard Branson is looking to expand his fleet of aircraft and spacecraft.  He is investing in the UK air taxi company Vertical Aerospace and is planning on buying a fleet of their air taxis. The air taxis are a strategic addition to his Virgin Atlantic aircraft and his Virgin Galactic spacecraft.  Branson has entered into a partnership with Vertical Aerospace to purchase 150 flying taxi eVTOLS, which are electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles. Entrepreneur Branson, whose expertise is aviation and aerospace, provides a ringing endorsement to the future of eVTOL, flying taxi travel. Technical Details on the eVTOL VA-X4 The flying taxis that Branson is purchasing are the VA-X4.  Vertical Aerospace was founded and is run by the highly successful, Be

  Virgin Galactic & Richard Branson Make History                                                   Virgin Galactic's Richard Branson Soaring into Space                                                         SpaceShip Unity Launching from VMS Eve                                        VMS Eve with Unity in Center Branson flying to space with co-workers in Unity                             SpaceShip Unity Flying Back to Earth                                                  View from Unity                                        Unity Detaching from VMS Eve                                             Source:  Virgin Galactic Dawn of Space Tourism Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson has successfully soared into space and returned safely to Earth.  The British billionaire undoubtedly had the greatest adventure of his life.  His SpaceShipTwo Unity took off from New Mexico's Spaceport America attached to the underside of the huge, double fuselage WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircra

  Virgin Galactic & Richard Branson Make History                                                       Richard Branson Soaring into Space onboard Unity SpaceShip Unity Launches from Eve                                        VMS Eve with Unity in Center Branson flying to space with co-workers in Unity                                                       SpaceShip Unity                                                  View from Unity                                        Unity Detaching from VMS Eve                                             Source:  Virgin Galactic Dawn of Space Tourism Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson has successfully soared into space and returned safely to Earth.  The British billionaire undoubtedly had the greatest adventure of his life.  His SpaceShipTwo Unity took off from New Mexico's Spaceport America attached to the underside of the huge, double fuselage WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft VMS Eve.  50 minutes after takeoff, spaceship Unity fired

  Virgin Galactic's High Flying Scientific Experiments Source:  Virgin Galactic Research Scientist Kellie Gerardi Virgin Galactic, Sir Richard Branson's New Mexico-based space company, will fly scientific researcher Kellie Gerardi to space to test new health care technologies.  Gerardi is a researcher for the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences. She is an expert in bioastronautics. She will serve as payload specialist on a dedicated research flight.  She will perform experiments on wearable health monitoring sensor systems and syringe designs for use in space.  She will also experiment with free floating liquids.  Gerardi has conducted experiments onboard reduced gravity flights at lower altitudes in conjunction with the Canadian Space Agency. Successful Manned Space Flight Virgin Galactic successfully tested its mothership VMS Eve and the VMS Unity space plane with two pilots onboard in May 2021.  This successful manned space flight will be followed by more test

  Satellite Launching Business                                                  Source:  Virgin Orbit Targets $1 Billion Valuation Richard Branson's satellite launching business Virgin Orbit hopes to raise $200 million in a round of funding.  That would place the valuation of the company at $1 Billion.  The money will be used to fund satellite launches and for capital expenditures.   The Wall Street Journal first reported Branson's target of $200 million in funding. 747 Jumbo Jet Approach Branson is using highly modified 747 jumbo jets to launch, from mid air, rockets carrying satellites and place them in orbit.  The target market is small satellites ranging from the size of a toaster to a household refrigerator.  The satellites are placed in low Earth orbit for highly sophisticated services ranging from commercial applications to national security information gathering.  Launches can originate from any airports capable of 747 take-offs and landings. Space Competition Virgin Or

Business Growth Through Space Tourism & Commercial Flights Source:  Virgin Galactic LA to Tokyo in 2 Hours Billionaire entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson is a brilliant innovator.  And he has beyond supersonic plans for his space travel company Virgin Galactic.  By the end of 2020, he expects to have flown the first commercial tourism flight into space.  Nearly 8,000 tourists have signed up for a space flight at a cost of $250,000 each.  But Branson business plans go way beyond space tourism.  He wants to revolutionize commercial air travel by using his space vehicles for greatly accelerated air travel here on Earth. Beyond Supersonic Speed - Spaceline Flying Virgin Galactic says it is the only company that can deliver flying at greater than supersonic speed in a winged aircraft.  It calls the high speed flying "Spaceline" flying.  The company says its spaceship Unity and two other space vehicles under construction can be used to vastly accelerate long

Takes off Like a Rocket Monday But Hits a Little Choppy Air Tuesday Source:  NYSE Listed on the NYSE Virgin Galactic is the first space tourism company to land on Wall Street.  It's listed on the NYSE as SPCE.  It began trading on Monday and right out of the launch pad it soared up 5% at its debut.  It has a market cap of $1 billion. This underscores the interest of investors and the public in space tourism.   On Tuesday, the stock hit a little choppy air and as of 3PM Eastern Time is trading in the day range of $12.51 - $10.50.  Founder Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic CEO George Whiteside were on hand to ring the First Trade Bell on Monday to commemorate the occasion.  Sir Richard commented:  "Now anyone can invest in the future of space". Space Tourism Plans Virgin Galactic has intergalactic plans. It first wants to offer space flights to six passengers at a time for $250,000 each for trips to the weightless outskirts of space.  Trips begin in the sum

New Tech: Launching Satellites From 747 Aircraft Source:  Virgin Orbit Virgin Orbit's Air Launch System Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit just successfully tested its modified 747 aircraft - Cosmic Girl - that can fire off a rocket containing a satellite and place it in orbit.  The company is planning on its first commercial launch by the end of this summer.  For a great news blog, go to Important Innovations Collection: Launching Satellites From 747 Planes : Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit  Air Launch System Source:  Virgin Orbit's  747 with rocket under its wing Close to Commercial ...

Virgin Galactic Going Public on the NYSE Source:  Virgin Galactic Space Plane World's 1st Space Tourism Company to be Publicly Listed  Sir Richard  Branson announced today that he is taking Virgin Galactic public on the New York Stock Exchange.  It will be the world's first space tourism company to be listed and publicly traded.  He's doing it by merging the company with Social Capital Hedosophia, which is listed on the NYSE. Social Capital will get a 49% stake in Virgin Galactic for $1.3 billion.  For more details, go to my fellow journalist Ed Kane's news post, at Important Innovations Collection: Virgin Galactic Going Public on NYSE : Space Tourism Headed to NYSE Source:  Virgin Galactic Space Plane World's First Listed Space Tourism Company Richard Branson is ...

Space Tourism on the Horizon Source:  Virgin Galactic - Unity Launch Sir Richard Branson and his Virgin Galactic space tourism company just successfully launched their spaceship Unity into space and it has successfully landed back in California.  Can tourist trips be far behind? For details on this amazing accomplishment by innovator Sir Richard Branson, go to  https://importantinnovationscollection.blogspot.com/2018/12/virgin-galactic-reaches-space.html

Virgin Hyperloop One Proof of Concept and Tested Virgin Hyperloop One is among a number of businesses developing hyperloop systems.  The hyperloop is a revolutionary technology that will dramatically cut travel times between cities. Virgin Hyperloop One has a lot of money behind it - $295 million from Sir Richard Branson's Virgin, GE Ventures and SNCF. The company has already built a proof of concept vehicle.  It's been successfully tested.  The "pod" levitated, accelerated, glides, breaked and came to a stop. The company continues to move the technology forward. Levitation and Gliding Virgin Hyperloop One uses magnetic levitation to lift the train or pod above the tracks.  Electric propulsion accelerates it through a low pressure tube.  The vehicle is capable of gliding at airline speeds.  The promise of this technology is to go 700 to 800 mph. Elon Musk Elon Musk originally introduced the concept of hyperloops.  Virgin Hyperloop One says it has made s

Virgin Galactic Spaceplane Readies for Takeoffs Tech in Sub-orbit with Tourists Onboard Just last night, Virgin Galactic's spaceplane climbed 32 miles over California's Mojave Desert in its latest test flight.  That crushed all of its previous records.  This is the 3rd rocket powered test flight of VSS Unity spaceplane.  It brings Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic space tourism company very close to taking its first tourism customers into space. Amazing Flight The spaceplane was released from under the wing of its carrier plane at 46,500 feet.  VSS Unity fired its rocket motors for 42 seconds to propel itself and the 2 pilots at Mach 2.47 or 2&1/2times the speed of sound.  The spaceplane reached an altitude of 170,800 feet or essentially halfway to outer-space before safely descending to its spaceport in the Mojave Desert.  Mission accomplished. Get Ready for Tourist Takeoffs Branson is indicating that Virgin Galactic could start commercial flights for spa

NASA'S X-59 QueSST  X-PlaneTakeoff:  SST with No Boom NASA and Lockheed Martin just reached an important milestone on their quieter supersonic X-plane.  They've completed the initial design on a low boom SST passenger jet.  Why is that significant to all of us?  How would you like to hop on a plane and go from NYC to LA in 2 hours?  Or NYC to London in 3 hours.  That's what the X-plane is all about.  Some aviators are calling it "Son of Concorde", after the famed Anglo-French SST that was decommissioned 15 yrs ago. But this one has NASA expertise. Supersonic Getaways on QueSST NASA calls it the X-59 QueSST.  The Quiet Supersonic Transport that travels at 1100 mph. They just crossed a key threshold to make supersonic flight over land a real possibility.  They've completed a preliminary design review for the low boom flight experimental plane, the X-Plane. Looking and Sounding Good NASA thinks it has what it needs.  They say QueSST can fly

Get Ready for the Ride of Your Life Thanks to the combination of Elon Musk's concept and Sir Richard Branson's investment, the hyperloop is nearing reality. The hyperloop is a pod placed inside a vacuum-sealed tube.  By levitating the pod, friction is dramatically reduced which allows exponentially increased speed.  This technology combination allows for possible speeds of 700-800 miles per hour. Global Hyperloop Competition Entrepreneurs globally are attempting to duplicate Elon Musk's vision of hyperloop travel. A Spanish company Zeleros says their hyperloop system is capable of 745 mph.  This will allow travel from Madrid to Paris in about an hour, rather than 12 hours drive time.  There are at least ten hyperloop concept routes around the world conducting feasibility studies. They include some in the UK, US, India, Canada and Mexico. Hyperloop Standout in the Fast Lane The one hyperloop route that is ahead of the pact is the one between Pittsburgh, Columbus