wings_club_sight_lecture_hard_cover_book_body_pages_FINAL2 TEST

Our contribution to the space science mission
is exciting and something that’s internationally
recognized. In fact, late last year, we announced a
landmark contract with the Italian Air Force for a
commercial human tended research flight. And this is
something that I’m really excited about because in the
past, one of the challenges with space science is that
it has not been tremendously iterative. Right?
What we offer is a fundamentally new paradigm where
people can build a payload, put it onboard the ship, fly
it up to space, see how it does, bring it down, maybe
iterate it, and then the next week, fly to space again.
And so, you will have a fundamentally new pace of
George Whitesides, CEO Space Science exploration. This can be tremendously
exciting. It’s good for business as well. That’s a group
of people that like to fly a lot. But it’s also good for the future of humanity because
we’ll be able to make more rapid iterative progress in space science.
Moving forward, we’ll be working together and leveraging our mutual talents to
broaden and transform commercial space access and global travel technologies
in ways not previously explored or imagined. We hope to develop a fleet of
commercially viable and environmentally sustainable vehicles with global reach
that will rapidly connect people around the world.
What we envision is a fleet of winged vehicles that integrate into existing air space
and are compatible with current airport infrastructure to ensure their accelerated
introduction. Our focused engineering and project teams are experts in high speed
mobility, and their experience and insights will be valuable assets as we develop
this future of air travel.
And like any novel engineering challenge, our work will create meaningful
valuable IP in material science, analysis tools, propulsion, sustainable fuels,
manufacturing techniques, GNC (Guidance, Navigation and Control) and other
high technologies for high speed applications.
So, I’d like to leave you with a closing thought, as Richard said in the video at
the beginning, we tend to think of a space as a destination, but really, in many
ways, it’s a journey. Working with my colleagues at Virgin Galactic and with
this community has been a journey of a lifetime.
This team, our supporters, and our investors, are on a journey to build a
revolutionary system. One designed around the core principles and visions
I’ve discussed here today. I’m glad it’s a vision that we can share with you
and to share with the world. And I’m really excited about the future.
Virgin Galactic and The Spaceship Company team pose for photographer in
Mojave, CA. Virgin Spaceship Unity is unveiled in Mojave, California, Friday
February 19, 2016. VSS Unity is the first vehicle to be manufactured by The Spaceship
Company, Virgin Galactic’s wholly owned manufacturing arm, and is the second
vehicle of its design ever constructed. VSS Unity was unveiled in FAITH
(Final Assembly Integration Test Hangar), the Mojave-based home of manufacturing
and testing for Virgin Galactic’s human space flight program.
VSS Unity featured a new silver and white livery and was guided into position
by one of the company’s support Range Rovers, provided by its
exclusive automotive partner Jaguar Land Rover.
Thank you very much.
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