Suborbital Operators

Abstract

Momentum is building in the commercial suborbital spaceflight industry. By the time you read this, Virgin Galactic will be on the cusp of revenue flights with XCOR Aerospace not far behind. Also developing its own breed of suborbital vehicle is Blue Origin, which has maintained its secret-squirrel profile since being founded by Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos. Then there is Masten Space Systems, also based on Mojave, which has flown its XA-0.1B, or “Xombie”, reusable suborbital vehicle. Despite the delays these companies have faced, there is a sense of optimism about the state of commercial suborbital spaceflight. While not all these companies will be successful, most involved in the industry are convinced that, in the next few years, we will see multiple companies flying suborbital human spaceflights on a regular basis. With an eye towards that goal, this chapter looks at two companies leading the charge.