PlanetSpace joins with Canadian Arrow to develop space travel
A new venture, drawing upon a Canadian retooling of 60-year-old rocket technology and fresh funding from a former backer of Russia's Mir space
station, on Tuesday announced plans to start launching paying passengers into outer space by mid-2007.
The new company, called PlanetSpace, is a 50-50 venture involving Canadian Arrow, one of last year's leading contenders in the X Prize space race,
and Chirinjeev Kathuria, an Indian-American entrepreneur who put millions of dollars into an effort to extend Mir's life five years ago.
PlanetSpace's plans were detailed Tuesday at Canadian Arrow's space center in London, Ontario.
The Canadian arrow rocket is based on the V-2 rocket that was developed by the Nazis during World War II, then adapted after the war by the Soviets
and the Americans with the aid of German engineers. Canadian Arrow didn't finish developing their rocket in time to try for the $10 million X Prize,
but it did conduct a drop test of its crew capsule last August.
The first flights would be piloted by Canadian Arrow's six-person astronaut team, and PlanetSpace intends to make spaceflights available to the
public within 24 months, Sheerin said.
In the beginning, each flight would carry two passengers and a pilot, Sheerin said. The V-2 rocket would be launched from a Canadian site, most likely in the Great Lakes region. After liftoff, the rocket would reach a maximum velocity of four times the speed of sound, with passengers experiencing 4 to 5 G's — more acceleration than a shuttle astronaut would feel on a typical flight.
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