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Five groups making private space flight a reality

From space tourism to cargo trips to human trips to Mars, these are five key players with the capital, determination, and vision to shape the new path to the final frontier. 

3. Virgin Galactic

(The Grand Rapids Press, Emily Rose Bennett/AP)
Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, talks about his business and adventures during the Economic Club of Grand Rapids annual dinner at the DeVos Placein Grand Rapids, Mich., on Tuesday, May 27, 2014. (AP Photo/The Grand Rapids Press, Emily Rose Bennett)

Want to make a name for yourself in the private space race? Launch celebrities into orbit.

Founded in 2004, this branch of Richard Branson’s Virgin Group has a smaller goal than Mr. Musk’s plan for putting humans on Mars. Virgin Galactic is planning to give space tourists the chance take suborbital spaceflights – for a hefty price – with future plans in place to launch orbital spaceflights, small satellites, and space-science missions. 

In 2004, SpaceShipOne was launched as a joint venture between Microsoft mogul Paul Allen and engineer Burt Rutan. Guided by one pilot to a height of 62 miles, the spacecraft won the $10 million Ansari X-Prize, recognizing achievement in non-governmental manned spacecraft. SS1 became the first successful privately funded, reusable aircraft to travel to space. Enter Virgin. In collaboration with Mr. Allen and Mr. Rutan, Virgin Galactic is developing SpaceShipTwo. Based on Rutan’s design, the new ship will be guided by two pilots and have room for six passengers, who will get to experience about six minutes of weightlessness during the two-hour journey into suborbital space. More than 700 people have signed up for rides, with tickets currently going for $250,000 a piece. The list of people who have bought tickets reportedly includes Hollywood actors Tom Hanks and Angelina Jolie and astrophysicist Stephen Hawking. 

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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