アマゾン創始者ベゾスの宇宙船
アマゾン創始者ベゾスの作ったブルー・オリジンblue originが建造した宇宙船ゴッダードが公開された。ゴッダードはニューシェパード計画New Shepard programmeの一環として建造されたもので2010年頃までには実際に乗客をのせて運行できる予定らしいが、現段階ではそれを実現するには程遠い状態。他にもリチャード･ブランソンのヴァージン・ギャラクティックVirgin Galacticやホテル王Robert BigelowのGenesis 1があって民間の宇宙船開発競争が熱を帯びてきた。
Mr Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000 with the intention of developing a vertical take-off and landing vehicle, called New Shepard, able to take passengers to the edge of space.No timescale for commercial trips has been announced but documents released by the US Federal Aviation Administration suggest they could start as early as 2010.The latest videos show there is still a lot of development work to do before the company reaches that stage.[...]
Sir Richard Branson unveiled a mock-up of a rocket powered vehicle that will carry six passengers and two pilots to an altitude of about 140km (85 miles).His Virgin Galactic design is based on SpaceShipOne, the craft designed by Scaled Composites that won the Ansari X-Prize in 2005. The first passengers could take off in 2009.Other entrepreneurs jostling for their place in space include hotel tycoon Robert Bigelow who launched Genesis 1, an experimental inflatable spacecraft, in July 2006.Mr Bigelow hopes the water-melon shaped craft could form the basis of a future space hotel.
