Virgin Galactic delays commercial suborbital flights again
See update below.
Capitalism in space: In releasing its quarterly report, Virgin Galactic revealed that it is once again delaying the beginning of commercial suborbital flights, pushing back those first flights until the first quarter of 2023.
The net loss for Q1 2022 was $93 million, which was higher than Q4 2021 net loss of $81 million but less than the $130 million loss for the first quarter of 2021.
Flight tests of Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity suborbital space plane that were supposed to take place this summer have been pushed back to the fourth quarter. And the start of commercial service has been delayed from the fourth quarter to 2023. The company said the delays were due to supply chain and labor constraints.
You can read the full quarterly report here.
The company also says it still has 800 reservations for those commercial flights, which suggests that once flights begin it will have plenty of business for at least a period of time, depending on how frequently it can launch and how many passengers can fly each time.
UPDATE: The overhype of all of Richard Branson’s hi-tech projects, such as Virgin Galactic, was further illustrated by this other story from February about Branson’s well publicized project to build a hyper-loop transportation system in West Virgina.
Hyperloop was over-hyped. As the Financial Times first reported, Virgin Hyperloop laid off about half of its staff, as it makes a major shift it its goals. “The U.S. company said 111 people were laid off on Friday as it refocuses on delivering a cargo version of the experimental transportation system.”
Hat tip John Harman.
Now available in hardback and paperback as well as ebook!
From the press release: In this ground-breaking new history of early America, historian Robert Zimmerman not only exposes the lie behind The New York Times 1619 Project that falsely claims slavery is central to the history of the United States, he also provides profound lessons about the nature of human societies, lessons important for Americans today as well as for all future settlers on Mars and elsewhere in space.
Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space, is a riveting page-turning story that documents how slavery slowly became pervasive in the southern British colonies of North America, colonies founded by a people and culture that not only did not allow slavery but in every way were hostile to the practice.
Conscious Choice does more however. In telling the tragic history of the Virginia colony and the rise of slavery there, Zimmerman lays out the proper path for creating healthy societies in places like the Moon and Mars.
“Zimmerman’s ground-breaking history provides every future generation the basic framework for establishing new societies on other worlds. We would be wise to heed what he says.” —Robert Zubrin, founder of founder of the Mars Society.
All editions are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all book vendors, with the ebook priced at $5.99 before discount. The ebook can also be purchased direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit, in which case you don't support the big tech companies and I get a bigger cut much sooner.
Autographed printed copies are also available at discount directly from me (hardback $24.95; paperback $14.95; Shipping cost for either: $5.00). Just email me at zimmerman @ nasw dot org.
See update below.
Capitalism in space: In releasing its quarterly report, Virgin Galactic revealed that it is once again delaying the beginning of commercial suborbital flights, pushing back those first flights until the first quarter of 2023.
The net loss for Q1 2022 was $93 million, which was higher than Q4 2021 net loss of $81 million but less than the $130 million loss for the first quarter of 2021.
Flight tests of Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity suborbital space plane that were supposed to take place this summer have been pushed back to the fourth quarter. And the start of commercial service has been delayed from the fourth quarter to 2023. The company said the delays were due to supply chain and labor constraints.
You can read the full quarterly report here.
The company also says it still has 800 reservations for those commercial flights, which suggests that once flights begin it will have plenty of business for at least a period of time, depending on how frequently it can launch and how many passengers can fly each time.
UPDATE: The overhype of all of Richard Branson’s hi-tech projects, such as Virgin Galactic, was further illustrated by this other story from February about Branson’s well publicized project to build a hyper-loop transportation system in West Virgina.
Hyperloop was over-hyped. As the Financial Times first reported, Virgin Hyperloop laid off about half of its staff, as it makes a major shift it its goals. “The U.S. company said 111 people were laid off on Friday as it refocuses on delivering a cargo version of the experimental transportation system.”
Hat tip John Harman.
Now available in hardback and paperback as well as ebook!
From the press release: In this ground-breaking new history of early America, historian Robert Zimmerman not only exposes the lie behind The New York Times 1619 Project that falsely claims slavery is central to the history of the United States, he also provides profound lessons about the nature of human societies, lessons important for Americans today as well as for all future settlers on Mars and elsewhere in space.
Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space, is a riveting page-turning story that documents how slavery slowly became pervasive in the southern British colonies of North America, colonies founded by a people and culture that not only did not allow slavery but in every way were hostile to the practice.
Conscious Choice does more however. In telling the tragic history of the Virginia colony and the rise of slavery there, Zimmerman lays out the proper path for creating healthy societies in places like the Moon and Mars.
“Zimmerman’s ground-breaking history provides every future generation the basic framework for establishing new societies on other worlds. We would be wise to heed what he says.” —Robert Zubrin, founder of founder of the Mars Society.
All editions are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all book vendors, with the ebook priced at $5.99 before discount. The ebook can also be purchased direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit, in which case you don't support the big tech companies and I get a bigger cut much sooner.
Autographed printed copies are also available at discount directly from me (hardback $24.95; paperback $14.95; Shipping cost for either: $5.00). Just email me at zimmerman @ nasw dot org.
How is this even newsworthy?
The only thing else I want to hear is “Branson arrested.”
Well—at least he looked uncomfortable here
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BzuxEyeqri0
That and the Dr. D David Schultz slap-out of John Stossell…two of my favs.
If we we had to have put up with all this in 1969 the Russians would be colonzing the moon while the foot dragging nit-wits would be studying the impact of cosmic dust on the moon
Its no longer the Russians but the Chinese.