Is Virgin Galactic a dead duck?

[Gandahar]

Considering they lead the field are they now just marketing? How many years has it been?

They seem to have lost ground to other teams.

[Eric Mc]

We'll see when they start flight testing the replacement vehicle in a few months time.

[RobDickinson]

They ditched scaled composites, spent multimillions, took a decade or so longer than thought and as yet have no 'space tourists', which is their pretty inglorious ultimate goal.

It was a dead duck before they started.

[Eric Mc]

I don't think it is - it just depends on how much time, effort and money they are willing to continue to expend on the project. That is their decision - irrespective of what others think.

[Toaster]

Not Just yet https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/feb/19/vi...

However its a bit of a joy ride as it just goes up then comes back down as noted by Chris Hadfield https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/oct/26/vi...

His Prophecy of they will eventually crash one came a little earlier than even he thought it would. http://www.gizmag.com/hadfield-on-virgin-galactic/...

If they lose another one especially with passengers regulation will probably kick in and make it tougher to operate so it will be interesting to see what happens.

[Tempest_5]

Good Luck to them. If it was that easy it would have been done years ago. Someone has to be first. Look at how electric/battery cars have progressed since the first efforts.

Even if they fail commercially, a lot of people will be learning a lot on this project and will move onto the next generation of commercial space transport vehicles. It is not a wasted effort even if Virgin Galactic goes down the pan (which I hope they don't).

[hidetheelephants]

How close is Blue Origin's rocket-powered dildo to commercial operation?

[Fastpedeller]

Tempest_5 said:

Good Luck to them. If it was that easy it would have been done years ago. Someone has to be first. Look at how electric/battery cars have progressed since the first efforts.

Electric vehicles have had very slow progression over 100 years.

[Tempest_5]

Alright, poor example, but the point is that this is evolving technology and you see the same thing with other products.

[RobDickinson]

This isnt a commercial space transport system, its an expensive fairground ride.

[Toaster]

RobDickinson said:

This isnt a commercial space transport system, its an expensive fairground ride.

+1

[Moonhawk]

RobDickinson said:

This isnt a commercial space transport system, its an expensive fairground ride.

It was never designed to be a commercial space transport system. Putting stuff in orbit is a whole different ballgame compared to sub orbital flights.

It's an expensive fairground ride because it was designed to be just that......the point is, people pay good money for fairground rides.

Edited by Moonhawk on Monday 25th April 00:29

[MartG]

New vehicle rolled out today

[RobDickinson]

Hope they have a post it note on that lever now...

[scubadude]

RobDickinson said:

Hope they have a post it note on that lever now...

Hopefully not the note Will Smith had in Independence Day- "Opps"

[Toaster]

I was surprised no one has mentioned that Virgin Galactic Successfully Completes First Test Flight in Two Years
http://fortune.com/2016/09/10/virgin-galactic-test...

[ianrb]

Moonhawk said:

RobDickinson said:

This isnt a commercial space transport system, its an expensive fairground ride.

It was never designed to be a commercial space transport system. Putting stuff in orbit is a whole different ballgame compared to sub orbital flights.

It's an expensive fairground ride because it was designed to be just that......the point is, people pay good money for fairground rides.

Edited by Moonhawk on Monday 25th April 00:29

To be fair they are working on a satellite launch system, although I'm not sure how much is PR puff and how much is engineering.

http://www.virgingalactic.com/satellite-launch/