Important Innovations

  New Space Plane Wars                                                  Source:  Sierra Space Sierra's Space Plane Dream Chaser Dream Chaser is a supersonic SST space plane being developed and getting ready to go into service by Louisville, Colorado based Sierra Space.  The vehicle is the world's first and only winged commercial space plane, according to Sierra.  It is designed to compete against Elon Musk's SpaceX, Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin to carry astronauts, space tourists and supplies into space.  Dream Chaser is aggressively developing its global business footprint and is rolling out a brand-new chapter of space wars in the commercialization of space. Building a Global Business Network Dream Chaser is awesome aviation technology.  It is launched on top of a rocket and then dislodges and flies on its own power into space at supersonic speeds.  The SST flies back to Earth on its own power and wings and lands at specially d

Fleet of Rovers Being Developed to Carry People & Cargo on the Moon & Mars                                        Source:  Venturi Astrolab California's Venturi Astrolab California-based startup Venturi Astrolab has developed an interplanetary rover to transport people and cargo on the surface of the Moon and eventually on Mars.  The company has plans to build a fleet of rovers to meet NASA and commercial space companies' needs as humans become an interplanetary race.  Venturi Astrolab says the rovers will help establish and build bases on the Moon and the planets.  They add the rovers will "solve the local transportation problems" on the Moon.  The rovers are called FLEX for Flexible Logistics and Exploration. Capabilities and Technologies FLEX is incredibly flexible and dexterous.  It can crouch down, pickup payloads on the lunar surface and carry them to designated locations.  It can maneuver semi-autonomously and be controlled remotely. It can even be modi

  1 Hour Passenger Flight Beijing to NYC                                             Source:  China Transportation It Is Literally a Blast Chinese aerospace startup company Space Transportation's new space plane is being developed to carry passengers at speeds up to 2,600 mph in suborbital space to go from "point-to-point". That includes space tourism adventures and bullet-fast aircraft flights on Earth. The company says their new technology can fly passengers from Beijing to New York City in one hour. Space Transportation calls the new space plane a "rocket with wings".  They say it will be a fully reusable space plane with large triangular wings with rocket boosters. The concept is a blast into suborbital space and a new form of passenger air travel to space and for travel to destinations here on Earth being developed in China.   How Does It Work? The winged rocket plane takes off vertically and detaches itself from the huge, triangular glider wing.  It hurtle

Bezos & Brother Mark to Launch into Space in July on Blue Origin                                                                                               Source:  Amazon  Billionaire Launches into Space on His Own Rocket Amazon founder & CEO Jeff Bezos and his brother Mark are flying to space on a Blue Origin flight on July 20th.  Blue Origin is the space company founded by Jeff Bezos.  This will be the first human flight launched by Blue Origin and the first mission manned by pilots.  In a post on Instagram, Jeff Bezos said going to space was something he wanted to do "all my life".  He will be taking the ride of his life on his own rocket, joined by his brother, the manned flight crew along with a soon to be announced passenger. A Seat Is Up For Grabs Blue Origin is auctioning off a seat in the capsule for someone who would like to join the Bezos brothers for the space flight.  Bidding for the seat has already reached $2.8 million and the auction closes on June

  Bezos & Brother Mark to Launch on July 20, 2021                                             Source:  Amazon & Blue Origin Space Capsule Billionaire in Orbit With his Blue Origin Space Company Amazon founder & CEO Jeff Bezos and his brother Mark are flying to space on a Blue Origin flight on July 20th.  Blue Origin is the space company founded by Jeff Bezos.  This will be the first human flight launched by Blue Origin and the first mission manned by pilots.  In a post on Instagram, Jeff Bezos said going to space was something he wanted to do "all my life".  He will be taking the ride of his life on his own rocket, joined by his brother, the manned flight crew along with a soon to be announced passenger. A Seat Is Up For Grabs Blue Origin is auctioning off a seat in the capsule for someone who would like to join the Bezos brothers for the space flight.  Bidding for the seat has already reached $2.8 million and the auction closes on June 12.  Blue Origin has said i

  First Trip On July 20, 2021 on Jeff Bezos' New Shepherd Rocket/Capsule Combo                                             Source:  Blue Origin Whole New World of Adventure in Space for Private Citizens Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and of the space company Blue Origin, is targeting July 20,2021 for the world's first suborbital space sightseeing trip in Blue Origin's mission experienced New Shepherd combo rocket and space capsule.  Blue Origin is putting one passenger seat, on this first flight, up for auction for the next five weeks.  The proceeds will go to the space firm's charity foundation for distribution.  The July 20th event will be a landmark moment for private citizens' adventures in space travel.  The flight is expected to be crewed by astronauts and qualified aerospace experts. Stakes Represent Intergalactically High Competition Space tourism is a multi-billion component of the global commercialization of space.  Billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Elon Mu

First Trip On July 20, 2021 on Jeff Bezos' New Shepherd Rocket/Capsule Combo                                             Source:  Blue Origin Whole New World of Adventure in Space for Private Citizens Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and of the space company Blue Origin, is targeting July 20,2021 for the world's first suborbital space sightseeing trip in Blue Origin's mission experienced New Shepherd combo rocket and space capsule.  Blue Origin is putting one passenger seat, on this first flight, up for auction for the next five weeks.  The proceeds will go to the space firm's charity foundation for distribution.  The July 20th event will be a landmark moment for private citizens' adventures in space travel.  The flight is expected to be crewed by astronauts and qualified aerospace experts. Stakes Represent Intergalactically High Competition Space tourism is a multi-billion component of the global commercialization of space.  Billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk

  Bezos' Blue Origin Ready to Sell Space Tourism Tickets                                                            Source:  Blue Origin's New Shepherd Rocket Travel Like Nothing Else - Hurtling into Space on New Shepherd Rocket Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin is about to start selling tickets for rides on its space tourism rocket New Shepherd.  The rocket has the capacity to carry six passengers into the lower edges of space.  It has been launched multiple times, successfully tested and has completed 11 missions.  You can sign up for a seat on the Blue Origin website.  The ticket price is expected to be disclosed by the company very soon. Vacationing in Zero Gravity The New Shepherd launch site is located in a remote desert area in Texas.  The space capsule has massive windows for passengers to enjoy the view.  Once reaching the edges of space, passengers will spend 10 minutes in zero gravity before returning to Earth. The rocket launches vertically wi

  Bezos' Blue Origin Ready to Sell Space Tourism Tickets                                                            Source:  Blue Origin's New Shepherd Rocket Travel Like Nothing Else - Hurtling into Space on New Shepherd Rocket Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin is about to start selling tickets for rides on its space tourism rocket New Shepherd.  The rocket has the capacity to carry six passengers into the lower edges of space.  It has been launched multiple times, successfully tested and has completed 11 missions.  You can sign up for a seat on the Blue Origin website.  The ticket price is expected to be disclosed by the company very soon. Vacationing in Zero Gravity The New Shepherd launch site is located in a remote desert area in Texas.  The space capsule has massive windows for passengers to enjoy the view.  Once reaching the edges of space, passengers will spend 10 minutes in zero gravity before returning to Earth. The rocket launches vertically wi

Bezos' Blue Origin Wins DARPA/Pentagon Contract for Nuclear Spacecraft                                             Source:  Blue Origin                                     Source:  DARPA Nuclear Powered Spacecraft Nuclear Powered Trips to Space Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' aerospace company Blue Origin has won a US Department of Defense contract to design a nuclear powered spacecraft.  The $2.5 million contract was awarded by the Pentagon's DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) as part of its DRACO program (Designated Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations).  Lockheed Martin and General Atomics were awarded similar contracts for the DRACO program. Nuclear Thermal Propulsion The DARPA program is focused on developing and testing nuclear thermal propulsion technology to power space travel.  The technology utilizes a small nuclear reactor inside the rocket to heat up the liquid fuel and propel the spacecraft beyond low Earth orbit into deep space.  DARPA believes that

  New Glenn Rocket Part of NASA's Commercial Launch Fleet                                            Source:  Blue Origin Jeff Bezos's Rockets Soaring Into Space Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin has scored a big win.  NASA has selected the New Glenn rocket as a launcher for future NASA missions in the mid-2020's.  New Glenn joins NASA's fleet of launch vehicles. New Shepherd NASA has launched Blue Origin's New Shepherd suborbital vehicle dozens of times to fly payloads into space.  The New Glenn is an orbital launcher that can reuse its first stage booster rocket.  Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos says he expects the vehicle will carry humans as well as cargo into space. Space Technology New Glenn is a two stage booster rocket vehicle.  The rocket's reusable first stage is designed to re-fly twenty-five times, after touching down in the ocean and being retrieved.  It can carry up to 14 tons to geostationary orbit and 50 tons to low Earth orbit.

NASA Awards Contracts for Moon Spacecraft Source:  Blue Origin & Jeff Bezos Humans Back on the Moon by 2024 NASA just awarded contracts to three companies to build spacecraft capable of landing astronauts on the Moon.  Blue Origin, the space company founded by Amazon's Jeff Bezos, SpaceX founded by Tesla's Elon Musk and Dynetics, a  subsidiary of the IT company Leidos, are the winners. Is There Life in Space? The contract is a big win for Bezos and Blue Origin.  He has been urging NASA to explore the Moon's south pole where scientists have discovered water in the form of ice.  Water is the key ingredient that NASA targets in its search for life in space.  Bezos has  been pushing his Blue Moon lunar lander. He's pulled in Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman and Draper Labs as part of his Blue Moon development team.  According to Bezos, "We're not going back to the Moon to visit.  We're going ba

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

Billionaires Race to Space Source:  Blue Origin  -  Jeff Bezos & his space vehicle Blue Origin Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is in a race to win the highly competitive drive to commercialize space.  His company Blue Origin has a mission:  to provide low cost travel to space.  He's in a battle for space with two other billionaires - Elon Musk of SpaceX and Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic. Take-Off 2019 Bezos finances Blue Origin with $1 billion in Amazon stock yearly.  His system consists of a pressurized crew capsule on top of a reusable  "New Shepherd" rocket.  The system has been successfully tested several times. Experts expect the first crewed flight in the first half of 2019. Blue Origin has yet to leave the Earth's atmosphere.  SpaceX Falcon Heavy has soared into space.  Virgin Galactic's Unity spaceship recently crossed into the outer edges of space. New, Blue Origin Rocket Bezos is developing the new BE-4 rocket engines.  NASA astron

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