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Opinion: 2011 -- The Year of Commercial Space Travel

Last year turned out to be a momentous one for commercial spaceflight. It started in late January, when NASA rolled out a controversial new plan that relied on the private sector to get its astronauts to orbit. More exciting events came in the months that followed: The first drop test of Virgin Galactic's suborbital...

Private Spaceship SpaceX Dragon Makes Successful Test Flight

(Dec. 8) -- The first private spaceship designed to orbit Earth and return to its atmosphere blasted off this morning from Cape Canaveral, Fla., and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean more than three hours later. Bruce Weaver, AFP/Getty Images SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket lifts off Wednesday from Cape Canaveral, Fla. The...

Get Ready for Zero-Gravity Fun at Russian Space Hotel

(Oct. 1) -- After a difficult journey into space, the last thing you want to worry about is finding a hotel room. Ever since U.S. businessman and millionaire Dennis Tito took his own space odyssey in 2001 and became the world's first space tourist by traveling to the International Space Station, public interest in the...

Opinion: SpaceX Launch Shows Promise of Private Space Travel

(June 7) -- Much was riding on the launch Friday of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, including the credibility of private spaceflight's fiercest critics. Ever since the administration's NASA budget proposal was announced in early February, some of the space community has been up in arms about its plan to cancel NASA's...

Private Firms Look to Cash In on NASA Cuts

(Feb. 1) – With NASA's Constellation program cut from the budget President Obama proposed Monday, private companies have the chance to play a bigger role in the next space race. While the budget request for fiscal year 2011 eliminates the Constellation program – which would have replaced the space shuttle with...

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06/03/12 In a land where we expect to surprise ourselves Source: Tennessean.com - Nashville TN When things have been done a particular way for a long time, it is often difficult to imagine them being done any other way.
06/01/12 Proposed spaceport in Texas raises wildlife concerns Source: Houston Chronicle - Houston TX A proposed spaceport in South Texas could harm endangered falcons, ocelots and sea turtles, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department told federal officials this week - a concern seized by environmentalists who say the project should not be built on land bounded on three sides by a state park and national wildlife refuge.
06/01/12 FAA Grants Experimental Permit to Virgin Galactic Source: Product Design and Development (AP) Ã¢ Virgin Galactic says it expects to make rocket-powered test flights of its passenger spaceship later this year.
06/01/12 Local Travel Agents Booking Space Flights for $200K Source: Palo Alto Patch - Palo Alto CA As a Bay Area luxury travel agent for more than three decades, Lynda Turley Garrett never thought she'd be selling trips to outer space.
05/31/12 Virgin Galactic ready for powered tests Source: United Press International (UPI) Virgin Galactic says it has been granted an experimental launch permit from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration for its suborbital spacecraft SpaceShipTwo.