Aabar Invests in Virgin Galactic

Aabar Investments is a middle eastern company that apparently has a strong interest in spaceflight; they have just shelled out $280 million for a 32% stake in Virgin Galactic. This is great news.

Not only does this add credibility to the profit potential for space tourism, but it gives Virgin Galactic the money to use their technology for a new purpose: satellite launches. Virgin Galactic intends to use some of this money to develop a small satellite launch system using WhiteKnightTwo. They've been hinting at this potential for a while, but now it looks like it's going to happen.

Also, the announcement includes potential plans for a spaceport in the middle east, likely near Abu Dhabi. So now I suppose when Nermal is shipped to Abu Dhabi, he will have something to do there.

Obscure references for the win!

Trip to Space

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Solar Array

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