By Gaurav Pradhan
Virgin Galactic started with a promise of sending people to Space, with selling in advance 700 tickets, each of around US$ 250,000. Several celebrities like Ashton Kutcher, Leanardo DiCaprio, Stephen Hawking are in line with them to travel to space.
The special plane for the test flight, SpaceShipTwo, exploded in mid-air over California on October 31st 2014, resulting in death of one pilot and critical injury to other pilot. It is designed to carry six passengers.
They planned to sell trips, taking passengers 62 miles above Earth, which is the beginning of outer space. They wanted to sell the experience of levitation of outer space for few minutes, and then then hitting the ground. The cost of spaceship was reported to be US$ 500 million. This project is operating under The Spaceship Company, a joint venture between Abu Dhabi’s Investments PJS and Richard Branson.
Company has already raised more than US $ 80 million from early bookings. It has been learned that only a small fraction is refundable.
This accident has pushed the commercialization date from 2015 to a later date which has been undetermined.
But this incident has not decreased the intent of Richard Branson. He has stated, “Space is hard – but worth it. We will persevere and move forward together.”
Is Space Travel worth it?
Despite of the accident, Virgin Galactic still is persistent to try again to reach the space. The question remains – Is it really worth it? Virgin has been a pioneer in Aviation Industry. But many players have also come into this territory. This has pushed Virgin to get into a new and presently niche segment – Commercial Space Travel. This is a possible Blue Ocean Strategy, building resources and capabilities for this domain. This would help reap the early mover benefits in this segment. This is might be looking as a very risky venture at present, but once they make it possible, this will be a gold mine for the company. Competition trying to catch up, they will be able to use it as a Cash Cow by that time. This competitive advantage will stay for a long time, as other companies are yet to look into this segment.
Virgin Galactic is trying to touch the sky, and wishing to take people up there. But presently due to such a catastrophe, we need to see when it becomes a reality ?
(Author is a Management student of IIM Bangalore having an experience in Manufacturing Industry, Follow On Twitter @GauravToYou)
Also Read
Virgin Galactic Crash – BBC – US & Canada – http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-29861259
Virgin Galatic Spaceship Explodes – http://money.cnn.com/2014/10/31/technology/virgin-galactic-spaceship-crash/
How High Will Amazon’s Drones Fly ? – Social Media Trend – https://www.socialmediatrend.in/technology/how-high-will-amazons-drones-fly-2/
I wonder if we would have cheap and easy air travel if there had been social media in the early 19th century, days when flying an airplane was fraught with risk and a good possibility of death. Would the handwringing over the death of Thomas Selfridge in a 1908 test flight with Orville Wright have hamstrung the Wright Brothers? Perhaps, given the reaction of many people recently.
It’s notable that those people who have been clutching their pearls over the price of it all are not involved in any way in aerospace. Those folks seem to believe that stretching the envelope of human mastery of the skies and space should be risk-free, something only slightly more risky than boarding a Boeing 737 for a flight to another city. It doesn’t work that way, it never has, it never will and they will never understand that.
So tally their voices in the “noise” side of the signal-to-noise calculation, as they have nothing to add except projections of their own timidity. Those who are doing the heavy lifting of raising humanity from the surly bonds of Earth’s gravity have other better things to do. When they talk, listen to them. They know what they are talking about. The others, well, they just don’t.
It’s easy to say that the cost of a human life is a price too high for any endeavor. But let’s keep in mind that the two gentlemen who best new the risks of flying SpaceShip Two were the pilots of the ill-fated test flight. And let’s keep in mind that they went willingly, knowing the dangers.
To me, it would be a greater disservice to the memory of Michael Alsbury to quit trying to create and fly spacecraft like SpaceShip Two. I didn’t know the man, and I cannot say I knew his mind, yet somehow I do know that he almost certainly would have wanted us to learn from the accident, to improve our hardware and methods of using it, and to ultimately succeed.
Its really true. There is always risk attached to any kind of success. This is a very significant objective. My wishes that they would succeed. Thanks for your valuable words. Really wonderful to have your views.