by Michael Belfiore | Oct 4, 2016 | Blog
On October 4, 2004, commercial astronaut Brian Binnie won the Ansari XPRIZE for flying the first commercial spaceship out of the atmosphere twice within two weeks. That third spaceflight of SpaceShipOne netted $10 million for investor Paul Allen and builder Scaled...
by Michael Belfiore | Nov 24, 2015 | Blog
Yesterday at Blue Origin’s West Texas proving grounds, the company’s New Shepard spacecraft launched to an altitude of 329,839 feet, almost 2,000 feet past the international accepted boundary of space, and returned to Earth to complete a “flawless...
by Michael Belfiore | Oct 4, 2014 | Blog
Ten years ago today, a former Navy pilot climbed into a homebuilt spaceship, was carried to a high altitude by a mothership in the skies over Mojave, California, dropped into free fall, and fired the spaceship’s hybrid rocket motor to blast out of the atmosphere. It...
by Michael Belfiore | Jul 18, 2014 | Articles, Blog
Yesterday I had the opportunity to talk about commercial spaceflight on Minnesota Public Radio. Joining me was Will Pomerantz, VP of Special Projects at Virgin Galactic. Our host was Kerri Miller. While Pomerantz talked up the Virgin spaceflight experience, I...
