THE KING'S BLOG

Funny where Life leads you! Back in 2004 (or early 2005 - I can't remember exactly) a chap called Stephen Attenborough telephoned me at the King of Shaves offices, enquiring whether I would like to be a 'founder astronaut' for Virgin Galactic, the newly announced project to put human payload into space. Why me? Well, as Stephen put it, "we're looking for pioneering, innovative and creative entrepreneurial people, and your name came up". Flattery? Perhaps, But I was intrigued. Firstly, how would this project come to realisation? Secondly, when? And thirdly, could it tie in with a project I'd recently started on (here).

By late 2007, I'd had the fortune to meet both Will Whitehorn, by then the President of Virgin Galactic and someone who'd been by Branson's side for 21 years and Patrick McCall (Group Commercial Director) on business matters, seeking their advice on a couple of areas, and I thought well, "why not"?

So, at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC on 23rd January, I stood with a couple of hundred others (loads of press) and waited to see what Branson and Rutan were up to. Yes - I'd signed up as a piece of human payload (okay, okay - Space Tourist) to see what the real deal was.

And I wasn't disappointed. The audience and I were treated to an hour and a half of a visionary and 'never say never' billionaire and an extremely talented aerospace designer explain how they were taking the very first steps to making space travel a commercial reality.

People forget that great things have to start somewhere. And this, I think, is one of those somewheres. Sure, people say you have to spend $200,000 to go on this trip, but what they forget is that back in 1939, it cost $47,000 to fly one way across the Atlantic in an airplane.

Plasma screens were once the preserve of the few, costing $12,000 apiece or more. Now they retail at $400 or less. Ditto computers. Mobile phones. Cars.

Big things happen, because people take Big risks. And make something that is the preserve of the rich, ultimately accessible to many. Virgin Galactic's first steps into space will be through the construction of SpaceShip2 and WhiteKnight2 (the mothership, named Eve by Branson after his mum) and WK2 airlaunching SS2 so it can get into space quicker, with far less environmental impact than groundlaunching. WK2 is being designed to carry commercial payloads other than humans - low earth orbit satellites - and in this way, can compete commercially with existing ground launch systems. And out of this technology innovation, sub-orbital passenger planes may be developed, that can fly at Mach15 (or whatever) and bring Sydney closer to London, Singapore closer to New York).

Will this happen in my lifetime? Perhaps. There's a long way to go, and things like this are never easy. But, although Branson has his detractors (as do many, most all entrepreneurs) he's giving it a go. And I'm delighted to be able to be alongside him and his team. I'm number 73 on the list to 'Fly Galactic' in a Scaled Composites spacecraft designed and built by engineering geniuses, branded by an entrepreneurial genius, blessed with the 'Founders Focus' on believing things are possible, when everyone says they aren't, and who's life motto might be 'Why Not'.

Why Not Indeed'. Watch this space