Space tourism business Virgin Galactic has set September 8th as the probable date for its next sub-orbital launch. This will be the third commercial launch for the Sir Richard Branson-backed business and could be the fourth successful flight in four months.
‘Galactic 3’ has a launch window opening on September 8th, subject to weather and technical considerations. The flight will carry Virgin’s ‘Founder Astronauts’ who are all early ticket buyers of the company’s flight experiences.
“The ‘Galactic 03’ crew bought their tickets as early as 2005 and, since then, have been an active part of the Company’s vibrant Future Astronaut community. This community – comprised of approximately 800 individuals representing more than 60 different countries – enjoys access to distinctive experiences designed to inspire and to enrich their spaceflight experience,” stated Virgin.
The pilots for ‘Galactic 03’ are VSS Unity Commander Nicola Pecile and VSS Unity Pilot Michael Masucci; the Astronaut Instructor is Colin Bennett.
In the past 12 weeks, Virgin Galactic has introduced 11 new astronauts to the world. Following the ‘Galactic 03’ spaceflight, the customers on board would become Virgin Galactic astronauts 014, 015 and 016.
Is Garmin expanding their satellite SOS business?
Traffic and destination mapping business Garmin is rumored to be planning to work with Google to expand their satellite-based, SOS telephony market.
One report said that Garmin and Google are talking about using Google Messages and its text option on Garmin’s Response services for satellite-based, emergency, SOS connections. Garmin’s existing emergency service taps into Iridium’s satellites, which themselves cover the entire planet. Garmin charges around $15 per month (or a local equivalent) to use the satellite services.
Google’s Android phones, it is suggested, could be activated on Garmin’s systems and expanded to help stranded or emergency/SOS needs for users in more than 150 countries. The existing service from Apple on its recent iPhone 14 models is currently limited to 15 countries.
A new Google Android phone (Android 14) is expected to be released to the market shortly and some observers suggest the new phone could include the SOS technology. Meanwhile, chipset manufacturer Qualcomm is also working on adding support for SOS messaging via Iridium with a service called Snapdragon Satellite.
Qualcomm’s service is also available on the Garmin Response system. Qualcomm stated in February that Honor, Motorola, Nothing, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi are all currently working on phones with hardware that support the satellite feature.
