Jump to content

Virgin Galactic, Branson's space venture

PB666

By PB666
in Science & Spaceflight

 Share

Recommended Posts

mikegarrison

mikegarrison

Posted
Posted

Amazon lost money for what, 15 years? And now how profitable are they?

This "simple math" is probably *too* simple. I'm not saying I expect them to be making money next quarter or anything, and they may never make money, but developing a flight vehicle is very expensive. That doesn't mean you keep spending money at that rate after it has been developed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
tater

tater

Posted
Posted (edited)
51 minutes ago, mikegarrison said:

Amazon lost money for what, 15 years? And now how profitable are they?

This "simple math" is probably *too* simple. I'm not saying I expect them to be making money next quarter or anything, and they may never make money, but developing a flight vehicle is very expensive. That doesn't mean you keep spending money at that rate after it has been developed.

Absolutely true, but the use case here is the consumer base of people who can spend almost a half a million bucks on a 12 min ride. Seems unlikely they can book 730 seats a year—to break even—in market can also choose BO. Then do it for years.

At the end of the 15 years of loss, Amazon had a rather huge market in front of them… not sure that’s true of space tourism at the suborbital for $$$$$$$$$$ level

Edited by tater
Link to comment
Share on other sites
tater

tater

Posted
Posted

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211022005196/en/Global-Sub-Orbital-Space-Tourism-Market-Analysis-and-Research-Report-2021-2031---ResearchAndMarkets.com

Quote

The global sub-orbital space tourism market is estimated to reach $396.6 million in 2031, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24.46% during the forecast period 2021-2031.

Assuming this is correct, and Virgin still burns only $80M/quarter (which is with 1 spaceship, and 1 in dev, vs supposedly 6+ later), then Virgin would need to secure ~80% of the market to break even.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 months later...
tater

tater

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, mikegarrison said:

I'm pretty sure I mentioned this before, but they are clearly making use of the hard point built on every 747 wing that was originally intended as a way to ferry around a 5th engine.

Learn something new every day:

SaE8r.jpg

Cool.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...
  • 4 weeks later...
  • 4 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...
tater

tater

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, GuessingEveryDay said:

How long have they had the interpreters there? Currently one of my favorite companies as they are the only ones with interpreters for the deaf.

Wow, you could answer a question I thought of when I noticed that: Is having an interpreter actually easier to follow than closed captions?

I watch plenty of shows in other languages with subtitles, and while it sometimes distracts from the visuals, I'd assume—as someone who doesn't sign—that watching a person might take even more focus... but of course I am clueless, and have no experience.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
This thread is quite old. Please consider starting a new thread rather than reviving this one.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...