International Trade Law News

The BBC reports that Virgin Galactic, the personal spaceflight company founded by Sir Richard Branson, has received the required U.S. export licenses for the company's full participation and part ownership of the SpaceShip Company, a joint venture with Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites. The SpaceShip Company intends to build a fleet of commercial sub-orbital spaceships and launch aircraft and market them to space tourism operators, including the launch customer, Virgin Galactic.

In testimony presented to the House Science Committee's Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics earlier this year, Rutan and Will Whitehorn, president of Virgin Galactic, told the panel that suborbital vehicle developers and operators of personal spacecraft are facing significant regulatory burdens imposed by the U.S., including barriers imposed by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Whitehorn indicated that uncertainty about possible licensing requirements had prevented Virgin Galactic from even viewing Scaled Composites' designs for the commercial space vehicle that it intends to use, known as SpaceShipTwo. He also indicated the delays had prevented Virgin Galactic from placing a formal order with Scaled Composites for the vehicles.

Now that the export control issues appear to have been resolved, the first flights are planned to begin in 2008. Virgin Galactic is now starting to take reservations and deposit commitments for the first year of operations. The ticket price has been set at US$200,000 and the minimum deposit to secure a seat is US$20,000. The BBC reports that Virgin Galactic has already collected $10 million in deposits.