Long Beach, CA – November 17, 2015 – Virgin Galactic applauds the passage of bipartisan commercial space legislation, called the Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act (CSLCA) by Congress. The U.S. commercial spaceflight industry has grown considerably since the passage of the historic Commercial Space Launch Act in 1984, which paved the way for the private sector to make commercial spaceflight a reality. This legislation provides provisions for government risk-sharing for launch companies and lays out a regulatory framework driven by public safety and industry development, among other language that will keep our industry progressive and competitive.
The policy set out in CSLCA addresses many of the major policy issues facing the commercial space industry since the update of the CSLA in 2004 and creates a regulatory environment that will enable Virgin Galactic and other companies to continue to develop space access for all.
“Virgin Galactic employs hundreds of dedicated and passionate professionals who are committed to working through the challenges of creating sustained, safe and reliable access to space,” said Virgin Galactic CEO George T. Whitesides. “The policy in this bill will allow us to make our industry’s hard work a reality. Virgin Galactic thanks Congress for their work on this legislation and we look forward to continued efforts to extend our economic sphere outward and reduce the cost of access to space for the benefit of life here on Earth.”
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About Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic is the world’s first commercial spaceline. Founded by Sir Richard Branson and owned by the Virgin Group and Aabar Investments PJS, Virgin Galactic will transform access to space for the benefit of life on Earth. To date, 700 men and women from over 50 countries—greater than the total number of humans who have ever been to space—have reserved places to fly on Virgin Galactic’s reusable space launch system, consisting of carrier aircraft, WhiteKnightTwo and spacecraft, SpaceShipTwo. SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo are manufactured and tested in Mojave, California, by its manufacturing wing, The Spaceship Company. Spaceflight operations will be based at Spaceport America in New Mexico, the world’s first purpose-built commercial spaceport. Virgin Galactic is also developing LauncherOne, an affordable dedicated ride to orbit for small satellites. As an air-launched rocket, LauncherOne is designed to provide commercial and government-built satellites a flexible launch service that meets each customer’s specific mission requirements. LauncherOne rockets are designed and manufactured in Long Beach, California, and launches will be conducted from various locations.
