Virgin Galactic

Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Mobile and Virgin Airlines and a host of other ventures, is one of the primary leaders in the commercial space tourism field. His project, Virgin Galactic, has been in development for more than ten years and its goal is to allow ordinary citizens, albeit wealthy ones, the opportunity to go into space.




Last year, Virgin Galactic suffered a setback with the crash of one its test flights, but that does not seem to be stopping their plans.

Virgin Galactic: Richard Branson's Space Company




Richard Branson's Blog Post After the Crash

Virgin Galactic Fliers Reassess Plans After Crash

Virgin Mobile is working out of Spaceport America, located in New Mexico, a tax-payer funded $250 million dollar facility.

Spaceport America

New Mexico Legislature Wants to Sell Spaceport America

Spaceport Woes Bedevil New Mexico

Discussion Questions:

1. Would you be willing to reserve a seat (if you had the money) on Virgin Galactic? Why or why not?

2. Does this seem like to big of a risk, especially allowing ordinary citizens to take part in these flights?

3. If a spaceport was proposed for a rural area in Missouri, supported by taxpayer dollars, would you support it?