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Rocketplane and Virgin Galactic are Pioneers of Space Tourism

Rocketplane’s mission is to make space tourism and space travel as safe and convenient as everyday air transportation.

Everything this company does is another step toward safe space tourism travel. Just imagine being able to board their space vehicle and take a flight into space, like it was any other flight. This will be nothing out of the ordinary in the years to come due to Rocketplane’s strategies to bring this vision into a reality.

You may have heard of Virgin Galactic, who are also pioneers of bringing space tourism to the public. What separates Rocketplane from Virgin Galactic is that they are using a space vehicle that will be able to take off from any airport, not just a particular launching pad like Virgin Galactic. This will eventually allow access to space to more people than ever.

Rocketplane’s vehicle for space tourism is called the Rocketplane XP.  They define it as a sub-orbital vehicle. It has all the components of a jet aircraft but it also has an air supply in the four seater cabin and is equipped with a rocket engine.  The design is such that you can see a good view of the earth while you are in space – as you would expect for the price tag! All of XP’s designs are built with upgrades in mind so that they can be made bigger to accommodate more passengers without the need to start from scratch, ultimately costing them less for future versions of the space vehicle. This cost reduction will no doubt be passed on to paying customers, thus driving overall prices down in the years to come.

What better place to test their XP than at the Oklahoma Spaceport in Burns Flat, Oklahoma? Rocketplane’s facility has a 13,500 foot runway and the location was formerly used as a Strategic Air Command base. It is equipped with plenty of hanger space, an operational tower, and it’s own fire and rescue service.  Rocketplane’s Burns Flat, Oklahoma facility will feature their Flight Operations Center, completely updated and modernized with mission control and other ground receiving stations.

The face of Rocketplane is John B. Herrington, a former NASA Astronaut and a Commander in the US Navy. He is known to the company as “your mission commander.” and has been employed with Rocketplane Limited since he retired from NASA and the Navy in July of 2005.  His positions at Rocketplane include Vice President, Director of Flight Systems, and Chief Test Pilot.

Both Rocketplane and Virgin Galactic offer three to four full days of pre-flight training to prepare you for your space tourism experience.  Many different tests and simulations are preformed to ensure that you are ready for flight.  The experience is one that only a select handful of people have ever had the pleasure of actually embarking upon.

Suborbital flights are expected to be routine in the next few years. It is companies like Rocketplane and Virgin Galactic that work hard every day to make space tourism flights available to people like you and anybody else who wishes to fly.

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