Virgin Galactic to build commercial spaceships

I've been writing for some time about the emerging Space Economy. Almost ten years ago, Virgin Atlantic, the big British media and airline company, registered "Virgin Galactic" as a trademark.

Virgin Galactic is now a real company, and has signed a contract with Mojave Aerospace, the company that owns the rights to SpaceShipOne, which is likely to win the X prize in the next couple of weeks by flying two suborbital flights in less than two weeks.

Why is the Space Economy important? The equipment, services, and support systems needed for space are not likely to be provided by $1/hour workers in Asia. Knowledge Economy companies all over the United States are likely to benefit from the high technology systems that will be needed--if they can compete successfully with other smart Knowledge Economy companies worldwide.

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