VIRGIN Galactic has confirmed that it plans to launch satellites, as well as tourists, into space.
At this week鈥檚 in Daejeon, South Korea, Virgin said it has established a division that will both develop a launch rocket and seek satellite customers for it. It hopes to slash the cost of lofting small 50-kilogram satellites into low-Earth orbit from $10 million or so today to about $1 million.
Virgin is expected to opt for a two-stage expendable rocket that could be slung beneath WhiteKnightTwo 鈥� the aircraft designed to carry its SpaceShipTwo tourist spacecraft high into the atmosphere prior to being blasted into sub-orbit.
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鈥淲e hope to get satellite launches underway by 2013 or 2014,鈥� says Virgin Galactic president Will Whitehorn.
