Moon Express: £8,000 lunar flights on target to begin by 2026

[Abdullah719]

So infectious is the enthusiasm of billionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist Naveen Jain that just a few minutes in his company is enough to convince you that anything is possible. That’s just as well because - were it explained by someone lacking his unwavering confidence – his latest endeavour would sound entirely outlandish.

Founded in 2010, his company Moon Express has become the only private enterprise to be granted permission to travel beyond Earth’s orbit and land on the Moon.

In 2017, Moon Express will send an unmanned vessel into orbit in the first of a series of missions that will, says Jain, teach humanity “to stand outside our planetary system and to learn how to live somewhere else”.

Jain’s investment in the project stems from his recognition that a band of entrepreneurs now possesses the means “of doing things that were only being done by superpowers before” and his belief that man must colonise planets and satellites beyond Earth to ensure our survival: “Ask a dinosaur for advice on what we should do if an asteroid were to hit us.”

Long-term though his ambitions are, a successful launch could radically change our travel habits in the near future. As well as laying the groundwork for colonisation of the moon, the mission will herald a new era of commercial space travel – Jain expects Moon Express to shuttle intrepid customers into space for holidays on the moon within a decade.

That such advancements in interplanetary transit are so imminent is largely due to the increased affordability of the technology required to send humans into orbit.

The rocket to be used by Moon Express next year will cost about $5 million; Jain expects the same apparatus to cost $2 million within five years; within 10 years he predicts we will be able to buy passage to the Moon and back for about $10,000 (£7,925), with the journey no more strenuous (albeit longer) than taking a flight from San Francisco to Sydney today.

Only time will tell if his endeavours will prove successful, but Jain isn’t alone in his commitment to making commercial space travel a reality.

Besieged by delays though his plans are, Sir Richard Branson remains committed to launching Virgin Galactic flights to the edge of space, with tickets available at $250,000 per person.

Arizona-based World View Enterprises is aiming to launch World View flights that would hoist passengers up to 100,000ft (or about 20 miles) in a pressurised capsule lifted by an immense, high-altitude balloon.

Spanish company Bloon will use a similar vessel to lift travellers to 116,000ft, or 22 miles; tickets cost €110,000.

The most ambitious plans of all come from Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of SpaceX, a private company aiming to innovate space travel and to capitalise on the associated commercial opportunities.

The South African entrepreneur has revealed his plans to colonise Mars “within our lifetime”, with the price of a ticket to the planet less than £150,000 per person.

NASA is similarly committed to exploring Mars in greater detail, and has launched a Journey to Mars programme that aims to send humans to the planet by the 2030s.

With such bold objectives from his peers, Jain is confident his own (significantly closer) target is achievable.

To celebrate their 25th anniversary he gave his wife a piece of Moon rock; now his aim is for newly betrothed couples not to promise each other the Moon but to go there for themselves instead.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/luxury/t...een-jains-human-flights-moon-within-10-years/

 

[Syed1]

If it is a one-way ticket, then there are a few people whose trip I'd like to personally finance.

 

[gani999]

Not satisfied with the mess we have made of this planet, we want to go forth and ruin others as well.

The human race disgusts me.

 

[JaDed]

Not satisfied with the mess we have made of this planet, we want to go forth and ruin others as well.

The human race disgusts me.

Isn't it a good thing we can leave earth behind and let nature recover a little considering our population growth that would be a good thing.

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jun/25/liftoff-us-allows-virgin-galactic-to-take-paying-passengers-into-space

Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic has made another small leap in the billionaire space race after US authorities gave it permission to take paying customers to space.

Its licence was enhanced on Friday by the US Federal Aviation Administration to allow a full commercial launch, after a successful test flight last month.

Branson may yet be on board the first passenger flight, which according to some reports could be as early as 4 July from the New Mexico spaceport, although the firm said this was speculation. Three more test flights are planned after the 22 May test, where the SpaceShipTwo craft reached space at an altitude of 55.5 miles and a speed of Mach 3, or more than 2,300 miles an hour.

A spokeswoman for Virgin Galactic said: “As previously announced, we expect to complete the final test flights this summer through to early fall [autumn]. At this time, we have not determined the date of our next flight.”

Michael Colglazier, chief executive officer of Virgin Galactic, said: “We’re incredibly pleased with the results of our most recent test flight, which achieved our stated flight test objectives. The flight performed flawlessly and the results demonstrate the safety and elegance of our flight system. “Today’s approval by the FAA of our full commercial launch licence, in conjunction with the success of our May 22 test flight, give us confidence as we proceed toward our first fully crewed test flight this summer.”

The FAA blessing came as Branson vies with two of the world’s three richest men, the founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, and Tesla’s boss, Elon Musk, in developing space flight. Bezos recently announced he would be on board the first passenger flight of the New Shepard spacecraft, built by his company Blue Origin, on 20 July. The licence puts Branson within reach of finally realising the ambition of the Virgin Galactic firm he founded back in 2004, which has booked numerous celebrities and super-rich passengers on board eventual space flights, at about $200,000 (£14,400) a ticket.

The enterprise has been marked by numerous setbacks, not least two fatal accidents in 2007 and 2014, which killed three engineers and a test pilot.

Virgin Galactic became a publicly traded company in 2019, while Branson has recently sold hundreds of millions of dollars of shares to help prop up his struggling Virgin Atlantic airline, as it grounded its fleets and laid off staff because of the Covid pandemic.