Richard Branson is one of the world´s most high profile billionaires. His 40 year career spreads across air travel, mobile, financial services, hospitality and space travel.

With a net worth of $5 billion, he tells Fusion´s Jorge Ramos, "I think it´s very important to use your money to tackle issues you feel could make a difference in the world." And that´s exactly what he´s doing. After ten years of trying to fulfill his dreams of space travel, he says the Virgin Galactic will get his family on a rocket by September of 2014.



Source: Fusion.net

The world’s wealthiest may look at expanding their real estate portfolio as they may use sub-orbital space travel to reduce travel time, believes Knight Frank.

More than 70 wealthy individuals, with a combined wealth of over $200 billion, are investing in space research projects, which includes asteroid mining to sub-orbital space travel, the global real estate consultancy said ahead of the March 5 release of its Wealth Report 2014.

“By travelling outside the Earth’s atmosphere, gravitational forces will allow spacecraft to travel at over 4,000 miles per hour, so breakfast in Mayfair could easily be followed by lunch overlooking Sydney Opera House,” says Knight Frank’s Head of Research Liam Bailey.

The consultancy believes that space travel will have impact on global luxury property markets, with ultra high net worth individuals (UHNWIs) will grow their luxury property portfolio.

Though the Wealth Report’s Global Cities Survey confirms, London currently wins over New York as a global wealth hub because it is more convenient for African, Middle Eastern, Russian and European UHNWIs.

But this convenience premium could be noticeably reduced if Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic succeeds in making his vision for sub-orbital travel a reality.

Transcontinental travel – London to Sydney – a distance of 10,553 miles will be completed in 2.2 hours from the current 21 hours. Dubai to Vancouver, a distance of 7285 miles that currently takes a flight time of 14.5 hours, will be cut short to just 1.5 hours, says Knight Frank.

Talking to The Wealth Report, entrepreneur Richard Branson said: “New commercial space will be one of the most exciting investment sectors in the next 20 years, driven by the initial successes of companies like Virgin Galactic.

“There is already some good evidence that the leading players are receiving high levels of interest from the mainstream investment community and attracting valuations that reflect confidence in future growth and opportunity.”

In 2013, Virgin Galactic spokesperson told Emirates 24|7 that it expects thousands will take the suborbital spaceflight from Abu Dhabi.

“If approved, Virgin Galactic intends for the UAE spaceport to be the first international commercial spaceport, contingent on US regulatory approvals. The UAE spaceport will be a very desirable destination attracting people from all over the world to experience the unique view of earth from above the UAE,” a spokesperson said.

Currently, over 600 people from more than 50 countries have placed reservations. Celebs including Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and Ashton Kutcher are among those said to have bought $200,000 tickets.

Ticket price will play a critical role in defining the impact on real estate.

“If this is a technology for billionaires only, then property market disruption might be limited to a wider choice of global lunch options. But if the price drops to allow the merely very wealthy to access sub-orbital flights, then every assumption about current property prices will have to be reconsidered,” Bailey said.

Knight Frank has rated Dubai among the most sought after real estate destination in the world. In 2013, over 140 foreign nationalities, which includes Americans, Canadians and Europeans, invested Dh116 billion in the Dubai real estate market.

Source: emirates247.com

With space budgets tighter than ever before, Space Tech Conference 2014 will bring together key military personnel, government officials and private industry executives to discuss the pressing issues facing the space industry during April 1-3, 2014 in Long Beach, California.

The West Coast’s premier space event, Space Tech Conference tackles business and strategic issues impacting commercial, military/DoD and civil government space sectors, and will offer attendees vital insights into purchasing priorities, acquisition requirements and business opportunities.

The unique conference format is designed to help busy space professionals maximize their time, by offering separate day one-day tracks that focus on commercial, military, and technology topics:

• Day 1, Tuesday, April 1, focuses on commercial space, including launch services, commercial crew and cargo and human spaceflight opportunities, as well as new ITAR / regulatory issues affecting players. Key representatives from NASA, U.S. Department of Commerce, and the Federal Aviation Administration, will join panels with senior industry executives from Boeing, United Launch Alliance, Orbital Sciences, SpaceX, Ball Aerospace, XCOR Aerospace, and entrepreneurs developing new space-based enterprises.
• Day 2, Wednesday, April 2, panelists address key military space issues, from resiliency and affordability, to hosted payloads, to smallsats and evolving military space architectures.   Speakers include DoD and government agency representatives from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, U.S. Air Force, GPS Directorate, DARPA, Navy SPAWAR Systems, and industry speakers from SES, Intelsat, NewSat, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and ATK Aerospace Group.
• Day 3, Thursday, April 3rd focuses on potentially game-changing technologies, from electric propulsion and mission enabling, to 3D printing in space, with speakers ranging from key government agencies such as NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, to global space tech players including as Thales Alenia Space, Space Systems/Loral, Boeing.

Within easy driving distance from much of California’s space industry, key manufacturing facilities, NASA’s JPL, as well as DoD facilities involved in space, Space Tech Conference 2014 is also an exceptionally travel-budget-friendly option for conference attendees from the West Coast.

Space Tech Conference 2014 takes place as part of Space Tech Expo 2014, the West Coast’s premier B2B event for spacecraft, satellite, launch vehicle and space-related technologies during April 1-3, at the Long Beach Convention Center.    The free-to-attend Space Tech Expo exhibition and conference brings together global decision-makers involved in the design, build and testing of spacecraft, satellite, launch vehicle and space-related technologies. In its third year, the conference and exhibit hall is expected to feature over 150 companies and organizations showcasing their latest products, technologies and innovations, and 2,000-plus attendees.

Aerospace Electrical Systems Expo, the only tradeshow and summit dedicated to on-board electrical power for aviation and spacecraft will be co-located with Space Tech Expo for the first time in 2014.

For further details, access: http://www.spacetechexpo.com