Worldview Spaceflight - Business Plan, Jun-09[1]

Worldview Spaceflight | Business Plan

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Share our view of the Future.

Business Plan

Colin Robinson

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07/06/2009 ‐ 1 ‐ Confidential Document



CONTACT DETAILS ................................................................................................................................. 5

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY........................................................................................................................... 6

Worldview’s objectives over the next 3 years are: ................................................................................ 7

How we will achieve these goals: .......................................................................................................... 7

2. OUR PRODUCTS ................................................................................................................................. 9

2.1 The Spaceflight Preparation Program ............................................................................................. 9

Phase 1 ‐ G‐force and disorientation training ..................................................................................... 10

Phase 2 –Spaceflight Preparation. ...................................................................................................... 10

Phase 3 – Micro Gravity Parabolic Flight. ........................................................................................... 10

2.2 Space Travel Agent ........................................................................................................................ 11

2.3 Parabolic Flights ............................................................................................................................ 11

SECTION 2 B ‐NEW COMPANY STRUCTURE – MAY 2009 ..................................................................................... 12

New products for new markets: .......................................................................................................... 12

Aspirers ............................................................................................................................................... 12

Education Bodies: ................................................................................................................................ 13

Restructuring Summary ...................................................................................................................... 13

Current Opportunities Identified ......................................................................................................... 14

3. MARKETING PLAN ........................................................................................................................... 15

3.1 Market Opportunity ...................................................................................................................... 15

3.2 Market Threats ............................................................................................................................. 15

3.3 Our Customers............................................................................................................................... 18

3.4 Reaching our Customers ............................................................................................................... 18

3.5 Other Plans .................................................................................................................................... 19

3.6 Flight Suit ...................................................................................................................................... 20

3.7 Aims and Objectives ...................................................................................................................... 21

3.8 Sponsorship and Association ......................................................................................................... 22

4. OUR COLLABORATORS ..................................................................................................................... 23

4.1 VIRGIN GALACTIC (NEW MEXICO, UNITED STATES) ....................................................................................... 23



Virgin’s Strengths ................................................................................................................................ 23

Virgin’s Weaknesses ............................................................................................................................ 23

Working with Virgin ............................................................................................................................ 23

4.2 SPACE ADVENTURES (VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES) .......................................................................................... 24

Space Adventures’ strengths ............................................................................................................... 24

Space Adventures’ weaknesses ........................................................................................................... 24

Working with Space Adventures ......................................................................................................... 25

4.4 ROCKETPLANE XP (UNITED STATES) ........................................................................................................... 25

Rocketplane’s Strengths ...................................................................................................................... 25

Rocketplane’s Weaknesses ................................................................................................................. 26

Working with Rocketplane XP ............................................................................................................. 26

4.5 INCREDIBLE ADVENTURES (FLORIDA, UNITED STATES) .................................................................................... 26

4.6 NASTAR (UNITED STATES) ...................................................................................................................... 27

4.7 OTHER SPACEFLIGHT OPERATORS ............................................................................................................... 28

4.8 DIFFERENTIATION .................................................................................................................................... 29

5. OUR MANAGEMENT TEAM .............................................................................................................. 30

5.1 Colin Robinson ............................................................................................................................... 30

5.2 Andrew Quinn ............................................................................................................................... 31

5.3 Staffing .......................................................................................................................................... 31

5.4 Consultants ................................................................................................................................... 31

6. FINANCE .......................................................................................................................................... 32

6.1 Making it Possible ......................................................................................................................... 32

6.2 Making it Profitable ...................................................................................................................... 32

6.4 Spaceflight Preparation Profitability. ............................................................................................ 34

6.5 Market Size and Share .................................................................................................................. 34

6.6 Repeat Customers ......................................................................................................................... 35

6.7 Program Schedule ......................................................................................................................... 36



6.8 The Adventure Market .................................................................................................................. 37

6.9 Managing the Risk ........................................................................................................................ 40

SECTION 6 B ‐ INCOME POTENTIAL FROM NEW PRODUCTS: ................................................................. 41

7. FUTURE GROWTH ............................................................................................................................ 42

7.1 Sub‐Orbital Spaceflights ................................................................................................................ 42

7.2 Aurora Space Tour ......................................................................................................................... 43

7.3 Branching Out ............................................................................................................................... 43

7.4 World 1st ........................................................................................................................................ 43

7.5 Preparing for the next generation ................................................................................................. 44

7.6 Be a Pioneer .................................................................................................................................. 44



Contact Details Worldview Spaceflight Ltd Rotterdam House 116 Quayside Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 3DY United Kingdom Phone. +44 (0191) 206 4003 Mobile phone of Colin Robinson. +44 (0) 7958 144 411 e‐mail: [email protected] or [email protected] website: www.worldviewspaceflight.com www.myspace.com/worldviewspaceflight

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.worldviewspaceflight.com/

http://www.myspace.com/worldviewspaceflight



Executive Summary

Worldview Spaceflight was conceived by a small group of Engineers, Professionals and students who met with a common goal, to bring Space within the reach of the general public by making it available at a low‐cost within the private commercial market. The company now stands to be Europe’s leading space tourism provider. Space Tourism proved its market potential during the 1970s when US airlines, Pan Am and Transworld Air took over 80,000 deposits for flights to space. The technology was available but no‐one took steps to implement it and the deposits had to be returned. Since then Manned Space Flight was left to the Governments of the World.

All of the World’s Space Agencies agree that the most lucrative use of space would come from tourism, however as government agencies, they have no objective to carry it out. Therefore private industry is set to build a market worth US$400 Billion within 15 years. (Source – Futron‐Zogby Space Tourism Market Study 2006)

There is already a large market for Space Tourism in the US with big names involved in the industry, such as Virgin and Space Adventures. Worldview will look to collaborate with US based operators to provide space tourism services in Europe. Worldview has to start out with very simple operations and to build into becoming a reputable provider of space tourism.

Our initial operations will consist of spaceflight training. Under the trademark, “Spaceflight Preparation Program” Worldview has designed a staged training program for anybody wishing to take a spaceflight. Our program will prepare people to fly with any operator. We can provide the training prior to any of our collaborating operators begin making spaceflights so we will have a firm base of customers attractive to operators, this will allow us to act as a “space travel agent”.

An opportunity for Worldview exists because there has been massive growth in adventure tourism over the past decade and the technology required for space tourism is now available at a cost which is affordable enough to create a mass market. In a survey in the USA, 42% of respondents (corresponding to 80 million people) said they would like to take a space vacation some day. 54% of respondents with incomes greater than US $250,000 said “they would be likely to participate in sub‐orbital space tourism” with 16% willing to pay more than $250,000 for a seat and 50% willing to pay the expected price of $100,000 (Futron‐Zogby 2006). The price set by Virgin Galactic is $200,000, Space Adventures is $100,000.

Market Projection for Sub‐Orbital Passengers: (Futron‐Zogby 2006).

Year 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Total Sub‐orbital pax 1030 1392 1750 2126 2748 3550 4468 5642

This projection has proven to be remarkably accurate. The first commercial flights of Virgin Galactic are planned for 2010 and they have 1000 passengers in waiting.



There has been vastly more interest in the Virgin Galactic product ($200,000) than Space Adventures ($100,000), this shows that our market is not driven by price. Some operators plan to provide their own 3‐4 day training program with a spaceflight to follow immediately, but this setup will not allow them to meet market demand. By collaborating with Worldview and contracting their training to us, operators will increase their turnover and decrease their costs.

The key to our success will be in building a large database of customers interested in Spaceflight and providing a wide range of products and services related to spaceflight. We aim to become the UK’s authority on Spaceflight – a sort of one‐stop‐shop for all your spaceflight needs.

Worldview’s objectives over the next 3 years are: • Develop strategic alliances with space tourism operators and travel operators

internationally.

• Implement a spaceflight preparation program for future space tourists to begin in 2009, bringing our waiting list to 48 passengers by 2010.

• Put worldview trained passengers on Sub‐orbital flights in 2010/2011

• Achieve sustainable passenger turnaround by putting 12 passengers per month through spaceflight preparation, providing passengers for 1 spaceflight per week, with a maximum 6 month waiting period for passengers, between completing the preparation to flying into space.

• Develop a successful education and outreach program to communicate our offering to school children and promote learning in science and engineering.

• Establish links with media as UK’s authority on Spaceflight – to be quoted in any spaceflight related breaking news stories.

• Develop a web portal receiving thousands of hits per day and a database large database of potential customers.

How we will achieve these goals: • Communicate the differentiation and quality of our offering through personal

interaction, media, and international marketing.

• Form partnerships with Space Tourism operators and training facilities.

• Gain government sponsorship for a space education program.

• Participate in the development of new spaceports and play an active role in the creation of legislation required for sub‐orbital tourism and necessary training in Europe.

International collaboration with large established organisations such as Virgin Galactic and Space Adventures will help us to become a trusted provider of space tourism. We are seeking



approval of our training program from the European Space Agency and The European Aviation Safety Agency; this approval will give our program and brand great credibility in the market. We are specialising in personal spaceflight training and providing a better experience to customers from a more desirable location. Customers will be wealthy, healthy and adventurous so although price competition will be a factor, the main differentiation will be the experience offered and the way in which the product is delivered.

Worldview will differentiate itself by making space tourism activities available to our customers now through the Spaceflight Preparation Program. Other sub‐orbital operators have taken large deposits and have made their customers wait extended periods of time without offering any products or services. These customers have become increasingly frustrated with such companies. It is our goal not to alienate our customers in this way and from the day they make contact with Worldview they will be offered centrifuge training, flights in high performance aircraft and zero gravity parabolic flights in preparation for their spaceflight. This program will be attractive to customers who want to begin their space experience immediately and it is expected to attract customers who have signed with operators and are keen to experience space tourism now.

Worldviews target markets are summarised as follows:

Individuals

• Aspirers – interest in space travel but no significant resources

• Experience investors – will participate in high cost experiences but realistically capped at £x pounds (£200‐5k)

• Serious aspirers – Those who have resources to commit to full training but cannot afford the flight itself (£5‐30k)

• Serious space travellers – Those who have resources to commit to space flight itself ($110,000 ‐ 350k)

Corporates/ training bodies

• Those with significant resources to commit to high value experiential training weekends, retreats and management rewards

Education bodies

• Those with serious real requirements to inspire and retain more pupils in science, technology, engineering and maths, (the so‐called STEM subjects)



Worldview will seek to collaborate with:

• Virgin Galactic • Space Adventures • Incredible Adventures • Rocketplane XP* • Armadillo Aerospace • XCOR • Blue Origin • Starchaser Industries • Red Letter Days* • QinetiQ* • 2 Excel Aviation*

*currently have agreements in place with these companies

Worldview must maintain a pricing strategy relevant to the future of the company. Following this a profit margin of 10‐20% must be maintained while additional monies have to be reinvested into development of training courses for orbital flights, long stays on orbital hotels, and professional and pilot training courses. With this reinvestment worldview will stay ahead in a quickly expanding market.

2. Our Products

2.1 The Spaceflight Preparation Program

Prospective Spaceflight Operators have entered the market early, before they even had any hardware. As a result their customers who put down large deposits at the exciting prospect of a spaceflight have become increasingly frustrated with these companies who have offered no space tourism activities in return for the customer’s investment.

Worldview Spaceflight have agreed, the use of facilities to provide centrifuge training, aerobatic training flights, micro‐gravity and flight simulation experiences. This 3‐phased program is available from the beginning of 2009, 1 year before commercial space tourism flights are due to begin out of the US.

The market has so far shown customers to be space enthusiasts or adrenaline seekers. Our spaceflight preparation program offers activities to cater for the desires of both of these types people. Many of the customers who have already signed and paid deposits to fly into Space will take part in the spaceflight preparation program. The program will build customer confidence in Worldview and naturally leads on to taking a spaceflight where we capitalize by being a Space Travel Agent (See section 2.2).



The secondary objective of the spaceflight preparation program besides being our initial income stream is to properly prepare our customers for a spaceflight. Space travel can be stressful so it is essential that customers are properly prepared. If customers are not properly prepared for a spaceflight then the reputation of the operator will suffer as people’s experiences will be limited. Early preparation is the best way to ensure a safe and exciting spaceflight for customers.

The Spaceflight Preparation Program is available in different phases, so to cater for the needs of different customers:

Phase 1 Gforce and disorientation training

Phase 1 consists of 1 day spent at our facilities in Farnborough, at the RAF’s home of Aerospace Medicine. Customers will be given experience of g‐force in the centrifuge and will take part in a simulated rocket launch in the centrifuge. They will learn techniques to cope with g‐force and disorientation with the help of one‐to‐one tuition from an aero‐medical expert.

This phase is aimed at the adventurer market and will be sold predominantly through experience company Red Letter Days. It will also provide the main corporate teambuilding product, which will be supported by additional practical instruction in Teamwork, leadership and communication.

Phase 1 ‐ £1,000

Phase 2 –Spaceflight Preparation.

Phase 2 is a 2 days program in Farnborough. Day 1 is as above. On the second day, customers will experience g‐force and disorientation while on an aerobatic flight with an ex‐Red Arrow pilot. They will be calling into action the previous day’s training.

This phase forms the core of our astronaut training and will be marketed to adventurers and space tourists.

Phase 2 ‐ £2,950

Phase 3 – Micro Gravity Parabolic Flight. To experience weightlessness, we travel to Russia and stay at Star City cosmonaut training facility. We then fly with the Russian Space Agency on one of their micro gravity training flights. Customers are catered for and given a tour of the cosmonaut facility and the Gagarin Cosmonaut museum during a 3 day stay in Russia.

This product is marketed at teambuilding groups and adventurers.



Phase 3 ‐ £4,000

2.2 Space Travel Agent

Our spaceflight preparation program will provide us with a list of ready‐made passengers who are looking to take spaceflights following their training. We can therefore act as a travel agent to operators of sub‐orbital flights charging commission on any customer successfully referred. This will be desirable to operators as it means they will not have to expend additional costs to provide training to these customers.

We will establish ourselves as a reputable space travel agent providing comprehensive training and guidance to space tourists. Following on from the completion of their spaceflight preparation program, customers will be keen to take a flight into space as soon as possible. We would like to generate repeat business by encouraging our customers to come back and re‐do their favourite part of the program, we would also encourage them to communicate our product to their friends and family. For this reason, Worldview will ensure that any customers that are referred to other operators to take flights will have Worldview as their first point of contact up to the day of their flight.

Worldview are currently a Space Travel Agent for Rocketplane XP, we have negotiated a commission of 10% on Spaceflights sold. ($20,000 commission per flight)

2.3 Parabolic Flights

The Parabolic flight provides micro‐gravity training in preparation for a person’s spaceflight. This training is essential as the passengers must learn how to cope with disorientation induced by weightlessness, how to control their motion and inertia and how to get into and out of a spaceship seat. Currently flights are arranged to take place in Russia.

We are raising finance to form a joint‐venture limited company that will own a plane with this capability and operate it under a UK Civil Aviation Authority, Air Operators Certificate.

There is a large market for this kind of micro‐gravity experience for people who aren’t flying into Space. In order to take full advantage of this capability, the parabolic flight will be offered as a totally separate “joy‐ride” activity as well as other identified markets (Please see GFX Business plan for detailed financial and marketing information).

We have negotiated an exclusive marketing agreement with Red Letter Days to market and sell parabolic flights in the UK. Red Letter Days will also exclusively market our Phase 1 –



Spaceflight Preparation Program as one of their experiences. This will follow a press launch and centrifuge demonstration in Spring 2009.

Section 2 B New Company Structure – May 2009

The following section has been added to reflect planned changes to company structure upon receiving investment:

New products for new markets:

Aspirers: Those with an interest in Space Travel but no significant resources:

Products for this market:

Astronaut Club – memberships for kids, aimed at the gift market, children receive a membership pack with a variety of space goodies, they also get access to a web portal and frequent newsletters.

Exhibition – We would purchase some mobile spaceflight training equipment:

• Human Gyroscope – “Spaceball”. • Replica Spacesuit. • VR Space Exploration software.

This can be taken to airshows, shopping centres, museums and schools where children can:

• Experience Spaceflight training for a few pounds in the Spaceball • Have their photo taken with the Spacesuit • Photos are saved on our website and children log in to download/print them (for a small

charge) • Sign up to the astronaut club.

Space camp weekends – “classroom” based entertainment/education for children. Strictly Confidential

e‐commerce – We would sell spaceflight related goods through our website: We would not actually stock and dispatch these items, but our website would be a portal for people to order goods from other websites, though they would be dispatched under our brand and customers would think they had come from us.

• Books • Science Museum toys


• Spacesuit replicas

Pre‐pay debit card – Growth market in pre‐pay debit cards, where parents can securely give their children pocket money. It would be attractive for kids to have an “astronaut” card.

Education Bodies: Those with serious obligations to excite children in the areas of science and engineering.

School Science Course – we would write a course in Manned Space Flight, which could be adopted by schools and taught as part of the new Diploma Structure, which is being introduced in schools next year.

Days in/out for kids – Using the exhibition equipment – spaceball etc – we could provide curriculum based activities for school groups in or out of schools

Professional Development for teachers – We would provide courses for teachers on using spaceflight in the classroom to excite children and support the curriculum.

Restructuring Summary


New Company – Products above

Astronaut Training company (currently

Holding Company – Spaceflight Group

We have obtained a grant of £8,000 from the North East England Investment Centre to rebrand Worldview and produce a new website, brochure and materials. We have also received a grant of £5,000 towards market research into education market and corporate teambuilding market + test marketing and assistance to achieve pilot sales.

Both of these grants are part‐funding for the projects:

• Total cost of Projects ‐ £22,000 • Total Grant ‐ £13,000 • Our Exposure ‐ £9,000



Current Opportunities Identified We have identified the following opportunities:

15th June 2009 – We are working with Newcastle Science City to bring over 300 school children from 12 schools to the Newcastle Centre for Life to meet a NASA astronaut. This will give us the opportunity to be associated with NASA and to market our products to schools and to school children.

There is no cost to us for the day.

17th July 2009 – Royal International Air Tattoo – We have been asked to support the Royal Aeronautical Society in keeping school children entertained during the final of Mission Virgin Galactic – A national schools competition funded by Virgin Galactic, asking school children to design a space tourism project.

We have been offered the opportunity to set up an exhibition in an exclusive enclosure to support this event and then we will stay on over the weekend with our exhibition during the air tattoo, which will be visited by 170,000 people.

This gives us the opportunity to market to schools and school children while being associated with Virgin and also the opportunity over the weekend to market to many thousands more children and families.

Cost ‐ £1,250 for the exhibition space. Cost of exhibition stand is included in rebranding project.

June 30th 2009 – Space Tourism Conference – London

This is the UK’s biggest Space Tourism gathering and will be attended by several US Spaceflight operators – we hope to market out training services and spaceflight travel agent services to them.

Known attendees:

• Will Whitehorn – President, Virgin Galactic

• Eric Anderson – President, Space Adventues

• Rich Pournelle – President, X‐Cor Aerospace.

Cost ‐ £500



3. Marketing Plan

3.1 Market Opportunity

Space Tourism is not a new market, people have been paying to fly into space since 2001 and others have been waiting for around 40 years for the opportunity since flights to the moon were announced by two US airlines with over 80,000 deposits taken.

Although the technology was available to make this happen, it has not been funded and built until now. When entrepreneur, Sir Richard Branson announced the formation of Virgin Galactic with the realistic prospect of flights to space within this decade (before 2010), one hundred people signed up straight away with many thousands more expressing an interest in wanting a flight and a willingness to pay the $200,000 price tag. Even if they were to stop taking reservations, it would take the Virgin fleet around 24 years to service this market; an unacceptable waiting period for these keen and rich individuals.

We can enter the market now with the ability to have these people trained and flown to space courtesy of Virgin, Space Adventures and Rocketplane within 5 years. We can provide contracted training solutions to spaceflight operators allowing them to fly to space more frequently with better prepared passengers. Operators will reduce their costs by not having to provide training and will increase their profits by flying to space more regularly. They are in a win‐win situation by collaborating with Worldview Spaceflight.

3.2 Market Threats

A threat to the safety of sub‐orbital flights is the biggest threat to the size of the market. Research shows that people do not perceive spaceflight to be as risky as activities such as skydiving or mountain climbing (Futron‐Zogby, 2006). But if something was to happen to increase the public’s perception of the risk attached to spaceflight, then the market may dwindle.

Our spaceflight preparation program is an exciting space‐related adventure activity and will provide anyone with a once‐in‐a‐lifetime experience regardless of whether they are going to take a spaceflight or not. Unlike sub‐orbital space tourism we have a provable track record of safety. Our people have over 50 years experience in operating the centrifuge, our pilots are ex Red Arrows and in over 40 years of parabolic flights worldwide there has never been a serious accident. The following is a brief summary of the risks that an operator has with people flying to space and how our Spaceflight Preparation Program acts to reduce these risks for the operator.



Hazard Hazard

Rating

Risk Counter Measure New Risk

High G forces on take-off and re-entry puts unusual stress on passengers.

Mid High Spaceflight participants are screened medically and are trained and tested on our spaceflight preparation program. Only when they have proven their tolerance in the simulators will they be approved for flight.

Low

Floating in micro-gravity environment

Low High Passengers will be shown how to move around in micro-gravity on a parabolic flight. The spaceship cabin interior will not contain any sharp corners or edges. Passengers will only have limited movement by tether to their seat to ensure they can return to their seat in time for re-entry.

Low

Spacecraft Failure High Low The spaceflight preparation program exposes customers to decompression effects in a controlled environment, enabling them to remain calm should an emergency situation occur on their spaceflight.

Low

Human Factors* – passenger panic.

Low Mid Passengers are very well prepared, physically and mentally, by the spaceflight preparation program so that no part of the flight comes as a surprise to them. They have been cleared by their doctor to fly who knows their medical history and they have not previously suffered any form of mental illness.

Low



*Human Factors – Research has shown that in a panic situation:

Hazard rating: Low – minor injuries, cuts and bruise.

Mid – Serious injuries requiring hospital treatment.

High – fatal injuries possibly leading to death.

Risk Rating: Low – Very unlikely and easily preventable.

Mid – Could happen rarely due to negligence.

High – Could happen often due to negligence.

• 15% of people will respond effectively and act to save their own life and others.

• 70% will respond ineffectively and carry out actions that will put their own and others lives at risk.

• 15% will become non-responsive, and despite being given clear instructions will remain frozen.

Research into disasters and survivors of disasters has shown that the most effective way to survive any incident is to have been well prepared and to have experienced and practiced any emergency situations.

With these measures plus many others, our safety record is expected to be exemplary in the industry and our customers will be happy to recommend the service to their friends. However if there is negligence among our collaborators which may blight their safety record this would have a detrimental effect on the whole market and could affect us. Worldview Spaceflight will carry out Safety Audits of all of our collaborators to minimize this risk. Government organizations are putting regulations in place to ensure the safety of spaceflight participants.

Following 9/11, terrorism has become a global threat. Due to the nature of our service, we have to consider the possibility of a terrorist attack on a spaceport. Flights were grounded for 3 days after 9/11, and after that passenger numbers were initially low but have since recovered. We would expect a similar reaction to an incident involving a space line. A 3‐day ban on flights would not affect the industry since the frequency of flights is only around 1 per week. However there could be a drop in passenger numbers. If this was to occur, we would have a waiting list of passengers who were still willing to risk the flight and so we would not suffer badly from this. Also our primary product; The Spaceflight Preparation Program would not be prevented from taking place due to a ban on commercial flights.



3.3 Our Customers

Worldview’s target customers will be households with incomes greater than £50,000, the majority of people with this income will be men and women aged over 50. This is not a problem for worldview as it is expected that a large interest in space tourism will come from this age group as a result of the Apollo era of space flight throughout the 1970’s. They are generally quite healthy, adventurous and live active lives. Research shows that more men are interested in space flight than women. Of people who said they were interested in sub‐orbital space flight and willing to pay for it, their average age was 57, 72% were men and 28% women. 41% Work full‐time, 23% are retired, 37% are self‐employed. (Futron‐Zogby, 2006)

There will be corporate interest in this premium product where law firms or other large corporations will offer spaceflight experiences as bonus incentives to their “high‐flying” employees. This gives our company added credibility by being affiliated with credible, established organizations and presents further media and PR opportunities.

3.4 Reaching our Customers

Our website contains a registration page where people can enter their details and state their level of interest of which there are three: Keep me informed; I will probably fly in the future; I want to make a booking. This database will become a valuable asset as it will hold details of high net‐worth, adventurous individuals.

Anyone registered will have access to a unique members’ area of the website where they can enter a chat forum with both Worldview employees and real customers who are embarking on spaceflight experiences. Each customer will have a rank attached to their web profile showing which parts of the preparation they have undergone, creating a hierarchy amongst our customers and an aspiration for people who have not undergone preparation to catch up and increase their rank.

We plan to retail our product through various means. We will purchase the details of affluent individuals that match the description laid out by our market research from marketing databases, such as marketingfile.com. This will bring a limited number of leads for little cost.

The following table outlines key milestones in the development of Worldview. Milestones that we achieve will be synchronized with press releases informing the public that we are “open for business”.



Date Milestone and press release June 2009 Announcement to the World that we have entered the space

tourism market to provide training for spaceflight. This will be an organized press day at the centrifuge facility where journalists will meet our team and experience the training. A European astronaut may be present to give their opinion of the training to the press.

July 2009 First people sign up to train with Worldview. (achieved, Nov 2008)

Sep 2009 First people take part in spaceflight preparation program to become private astronaut candidates.

Dec 2009 First people complete spaceflight preparation program and become the first civilians in the world to be “ready” for a sub‐orbital spaceflight.

2010/2011 (Depending on which operators we are collaborating with)

First Worldview customers fly into Space. (Currently collaborating with Rocketplane XP, first flight 2011, Target, Virgin Galactic 2010)

Spaceflight is very PR friendly. To date we have achieved the following:

• Feature story in Newcastle Evening Chronicle, half page feature.

• Interview on BBC Radio Newcastle. Colin Robinson was interviewed on the Drive‐Time show for five minutes. Colin was asked back to comment on the recruitment of a British Astronaut by The European Space Agency.

• Interest from Channel 4’s Paul O’Grady show.

• Consulted on Organising a BBC documentary, whereby James May will be trained as an Apollo astronaut.

• Request from French TV companies, Canal + and Planète who want to follow Mathilde Epron’s training. Mathilde has won a flight to Space with Rocketplane and will begin her Worldview Spaceflight Preparation in September.

• Northern Echo, feature in Business Section.

• Newcastle Journal, Front page of Business Section.

3.5 Other Plans

Reality TV has proved to be a very good generator of revenue in recent years and this action will attract international media attention to our products and services. The other advantage of this



is that our spaceflight preparation program is paraded on TV with real people taking part, showing the public that anyone can do it. The spaceflight will demonstrate in front of the world that the product is safe, reliable, enjoyable and “for real”. This can be achieved in collaboration with any spaceflight operator, preferably Virgin Galactic.

Due to the massive PR potential of our venture, an advertising budget can be set low and targeted at our market, wealthy individuals. The following media are representative of the type of places we expect to place adverts.

• First Class departure lounge • In flight magazine (first and business class) • Financial Newspapers (such as the FT in the UK) • The Week (a magazine, generally read by wealthy individuals who are too busy to buy a

daily newspaper but buy “the week” to get a roundup of the week’s most important news stories).

• HR magazines to attract companies to use our program for their valuable employees as team building exercises.

Sponsored links and pay‐per‐click advertising on the internet will drive traffic to our website where people can leave their details and register their level of interest. We will build up a database of information from people who state they may want to take a flight at some time in the future. We will keep our database customers constantly informed of our latest developments through e‐newsletters. The on‐line area will enable participating customers and non‐participating customers to interact and chat. Those that have undergone experiences will be keen to “brag” about it and those who have not will be encouraged to do so by the stories and chatter in this area of the website.

3.6 Flight Suit

Everyone that takes part in one of our activities will be given a Worldview Flying suit. This is an industry standard fire poof, Nomex flight suit that they will wear for all activities. The suit is embroidered with our logo and the passenger’s name and home country flag. For each activity completed the customer will receive a mission badge to attach to their suit.

People in our target market are often friends with each other and when a customer goes home to tell of their experience, not only will they have video footage and great memories of the event, they will have their very own Worldview Spaceflight Flying Suit to show off.



3.7 Aims and Objectives

Date Objective Gross Profit Sep 2009 First running of Spaceflight Preparation: Phase 1 £20,860. May 2010 48 people have completed Spaceflight Preparation:

Phase 1 £83,440

May 2011 • 166 people have completed spaceflight preparations: Phase 1,

• with 50% moving to Phase 2 (83 pax) and • 50% then moving to Phase 3 (42 pax)

£289,000 £153,000 £163,205

Jan 2012 Operating at full capacity: • 12 pax per month on Phase 1. • 6 pax per month on Phase 2. • 3 pax per month on Phase 3. • 1 pax per month take spaceflight through

travel agency.

£53,550 per month.



3.8 Sponsorship and Association

To successfully market ourselves as a space flight operator we must build a portfolio of associations with companies who offer the premium product in their field. Many companies want to be associated with spaceflight for the PR potential it brings them. The advantage to us is that in the public eye we will be associated with brands that they have used for many years and trust.

We are already associated with:

QinetiQ – UK Tech Company, provide Military with Pilot training and test new military aircraft. Most recently QinetiQ were involved in the test program and safety training for the Euro Fighter Typhoon. The QinetiQ safety Manager, Andy Quinn who completed this work is now a Worldview Spaceflight Director. QinetiQ now provide Worldview with the following facilities to carry out the Spaceflight Preparation Program:

• Human Centrifuge. • Disorientation Simulators. • Decompression Chamber.

2 Excel Aviation Ltd – 2 Excel is a registered passenger airline with a difference. They hold the same license as the likes of Virgin Airlines and British Airways, but fly much smaller 1 passenger high performance aircraft. Their pilots are ex Red Arrows and are the only people in the UK who are permitted to fly passengers in this type of aircraft in close formation. 2 Excel have a team of specialist pilots called “The Blades” who provide the flight element of the Spaceflight Preparation Program.

Rocketplane XP – Rocketplane are a US based provider of sub‐orbital flights. Worldview is currently acting as a Space Travel Agent for Rocketplane. We earn 10% commission on every spaceflight booked – price $200,000. Rocketplane expect their first commercial spaceflight to take place in 2011.

Red Letter Days – RLD are the leading brand in the UK in the experience sales market. We are in exclusive partnership with RLD to provide spaceflight training experiences. RLD have a large marketing budget and access to a list of their past, and therefore our potential clients.

Saturn Safety Management Services – Saturn are a safety consultant who specialize in the commercial space industry. They will provide experience and knowledge in the development of our spaceflight preparation program as well as providing independent safety audits of our services. Safety is our top priority! Andy Quinn, our operations director, is also MD of Saturn SMS.



4. Our Collaborators

4.1 Virgin Galactic (New Mexico, United States)

The current leading company in developing commercial sub‐orbital Space flights is Virgin Galactic who offers sub‐orbital flights using SpaceShipTwo, starting in 2010 with a ticket price of $200,000. They are currently working with government agencies (in particular the FAA) in the United States to develop regulations for their operation; this could be a stumbling block for them. Virgin’s entire brand credibility is tied to and affected by events in Virgin Galactic. However, there is no doubt that the company has a large head start with payments on flights already received, and the cooperation of Burt Rutan and Richard Branson in forming The Spaceship Company.

Virgin’s Strengths

No doubt that the main strength of Virgin Galactic is having the Virgin brand name which already instils confidence that their product is going to be a quality one. They also have the advantage of recruiting experienced executives from their Virgin Atlantic airlines into the running of Virgin Galactic. Virgin Atlantic has also given Galactic a pool of willing pilots as well as a means of bringing their customers into the spaceport from around the world.

Virgin’s Weaknesses

There is a lack of space experience within the Galactic team. Running an airline does not simply translate into running a spaceline. The manufacturer of the Virgin Spaceship, Scaled Composites, have no previous experience in the space industry and although they have demonstrated a capable prototype; transforming this into a passenger carrying vehicle has proved to be more of a challenge than they had foreseen and has resulted in a first launch delay so far of 2 years and is expected to take an extra year to complete. This delay has frustrated many of their deposit paying customers who were expecting to have been to space by now and have so far not undertaken any space tourism related activities.

Working with Virgin

To help Virgin we will seek to contract our spaceflight preparation program to them to train their passengers. The advantage to Virgin then is that their waiting lists are reduced and people



are able to experience space tourism now. Virgin will get a continuous stream of enthusiastic and fully prepared customers allowing them to make daily flights to space. This will reduce their own outgoings as they will not be providing training themselves and increase their profit by taking full advantage of the re‐usability of SpaceShipTwo.

Our Board members have the relevant experience in the Space Industry to build a successful venture. We see safety as our number one priority and we wish to create a culture of safety from the board, to the employees, pilots and customers. Our operations manager, Andy Quinn has over 25 years experience in the RAF as a safety manager and has since completed a masters in Air Safety Management and is completing a PhD in Commercial Spaceflight Safety Management. Andy did some safety consultant work for Virgin Galactic in 2006 when they began putting their operations together. Our other director Colin Robinson has a good relationship with Virgin having used his teaching experience to assists Virgin to plan a competition in schools. Colin was also responsible for introducing Virgin to Spaceport Sweden where they signed a deal to fly from Europe.

4.2 Space Adventures (Virginia, United States)

The largest space tourism company, Space Adventures utilises existing space hardware (e.g. Soyuz) normally employed for use by the Russian space agency. Customers effectively hitch a ride with existing astronauts and participate, to a limited extent, in their mission to the International Space Station. This experience costs US$20M. The company also plans to offer sub‐orbital flights for $102,000. However, the vehicles with which the company means to achieve this are still under development, as there are no government vehicles designed solely for sub‐orbital flight. Space Adventures are developing Spaceports in Dubai and Beijing.

Space Adventures’ strengths

Their main attribute is to be the only company in the world to have provided an actual space tourism experience in Space, this was achieved in 2001 when, Dennis Tito famously paid $20M to the Russian Space Agency to spend one week on the International Space Station. Since then Space Adventures have arranged 5 more such trips for a similar price tag. Since this market is very limited, Space Adventures are now investing in a sub‐orbital program primarily to compete with Virgin. Space Adventures is a well known brand in the United States and having already sent people into Space and is trusted by many to be able to deliver the product they desire.

Space Adventures’ weaknesses

Their major weakness is the experience on offer which is not desired by the market that they are targeting. Their vehicle is by XCOR, a US company with a good history in Space; however the



proposed sub‐orbital vehicle is only a two‐seat craft, consisting of 1 pilot and 1 passenger. The passenger has no capacity to experience zero‐gravity during the short space portion of the trip. Their low‐price of only $102,000 per seat is unlikely to be an attractive feature due to the limited experience on offer and the customers in this market aren’t price driven.

Working with Space Adventures

Working with Space Adventures will consist of a simple arrangement whereby we can train their passengers in the same way as we would work with Virgin, also we can offer Space Adventures a Space Travel Agent option whereby people undergoing our training may be suitable for a Space Adventures sub‐orbital flight and we could charge commission accordingly. The Space Adventures Spaceflight profile is markedly different from that of Virgin. There is only one passenger on board and no scope to get out of your seat; however the g‐force and stresses on the body are much less than those on a Virgin flight so we could refer passengers to Space Adventures where they fail to meet safety and fitness standards for a Virgin flight.

4.4 Rocketplane XP (United States)

Rocketplane were one of the favourites to win the Ansari X‐Prize. This was because they had a very simple design approach. For their vehicle they simply took a Learjet business plane and built a rocket motor into part of the fuselage. With this design they still had the Learjet’s capability to take off and land like an aeroplane, combined with the rocket capability necessary to climb into space. Rocketplane however have found many problems with their design and it has suffered with setbacks constantly as the jet was unable to hold the powerful rocket safely enough, nor was it designed to tolerate the g‐force exerted on it by rocket power. Rocketplane XP has returned to the drawing board many times but now have a vehicle capable of all it was supposed to be when they set out. First Rocketplane flights are scheduled for 2011.

Rocketplane’s Strengths

Rocketplane have already taken deposits and sold a few seats for sub‐orbital space flight. They have a widely recognized brand, thanks to marketing carried out before the X‐Prize was won. They are well financed and are led by an experienced team of engineers. Their design is a capable SpacePlane, able to fly under jet power. This will potentially make it able to fly point‐to‐point sub‐orbital space flights, for example, a trans‐Atlantic flight via space. The current Rocketplane design is intended only for use in sub‐orbital space but of all vehicles being developed, it has the most potential to be adapted for point‐to‐point sub‐orbital flights. Currently, only spacecraft with jet power capability will be allowed to operate in European airspace.



Rocketplane’s Weaknesses

There is no scope for passengers to experience micro‐gravity while in space. As the market develops, Rocketplane will suffer because our research shows that people expect both, large windows to get a good view and the ability to float free of their seat.

Working with Rocketplane XP

We are providing training and Space Travel agent services to Rocketplane XP.

4.5 Incredible Adventures (Florida, United States)

Incredible Adventures have been around since the early 1990’s. They began by arranging a flight on board a Russian Mig 29 for a rich business man who wanted the experience. Since then, they have grown to be well known around the world as a provider of adventure tourism. A large part of their market is in non‐space related activities, for example: diving with sharks, or their popular secret agent experience day. Incredible Adventures also act as agents to sell other people’s adventure activities.

They have arranged with Rocketplane XP to sell their spaceflights (although none have yet been sold through Incredible) and they also sell parabolic flights for the Zero Gravity Corporation. Alongside this, Incredible also provide flights in fast jets and flights to the edge of space in a mig‐29. The edge of space flight takes you to an altitude of 80,000 feet, there is a brief sensation of micro‐gravity and the sky above the cockpit appears black. However this is not comparable to a sub‐orbital flight, where the altitude reached is over 340,000 feet (64 miles). There may be some competition for our spaceflight preparation program from Incredible however I have already discussed the possibility of Incredible acting as sellers of our product with their director, Jane Reifert. Jane was keen to do so as a large proportion of their customers come from Europe, Africa and Russia.

We will also seek to allow Incredible to use our facilities to provide their own training program. Under this we would still operate the spaceflight preparation program under the “white‐label” of incredible adventures.



4.6 NASTAR (United States)

NASTAR very recently announced that they were entering the space tourism market to provide training for people who were going on to take sub‐orbital flights. As the National Aerospace Training and Research Centre, they are more than capable to do so. We see this as a threat to our spaceflight preparation program. Our own program is expected to be more popular with the market of “people wanting to take spaceflights” as it naturally leads up to our spaceflight so the customer feels safe and looked after by one organization throughout the process. When marketing the spaceflight preparation program we will stress the fact that we offer a personal service tailored towards the customer and designed specifically for a person taking a Worldview Spaceflight. The NASTAR service is a generic one and will not fully prepare a participant for a spaceflight, since the requirements of the different vehicles of different companies need specific preparation, which is provided by the spaceflight operator anyway.

Several of Virgin Galactic’s customers have already had one day in the centrifuge at NASTAR. Our access to similar facilities in this country will enable Virgin’s customers in Europe to train without travelling to the states and will relieve pressure on the NASTAR facility trying to cope with increasing passenger numbers in the future.



4.7 Other Spaceflight Operators

There are several other teams, mainly in the United States that have begun to design vehicles and plan their own sub‐orbital operations. Below is a summary of their current status and potential. We can work with all of these organizations for training and as a space travel agent.

Company Funding Location Strengths Weaknesses Potential Blue Origin Well Funded United

States Good design concept, well funded, experienced team

Design is unique and untested and so will take several years of development and testing before taking passengers.

Great potential due to the uniqueness of their vehicle. However it is still a long way from being completed

Starchaser Industries

Capable, have received some backing from esa

UK – (operating out of US)

Experienced team.

Not a fully reusable craft could prove expensive and unreliable.

Great for vertical launch seeking market; however vehicle is not as advanced and is a couple of years behind others.

Bristol Spaceplanes

Unfunded UK Excellent design and experienced team. Fully reusable SpacePlane, integrates into currently existing infra‐structure.

Poor business planning has led to the team being unable to secure funding.

Building a SpacePlane from current technology, however have been unable to find the necessary funding.

Armadillo Aerospace

Well Funded US Team lacking expertise, have been trying without success for several years

Vehicle concept is an identical configuration to that of Blue Origin and suffers the same problems

Little potential as design is not unique and is several years away from being complete.

The companies detailed above are seeking very small shares of the space tourism market but they are several years behind Virgin and Space Adventures who do not see them as being a major threat to becoming established in the market. They may bring a threat several years into the future by offering space flights at cut down prices by which time our spaceflight preparation will have progressed and will be capable of coping with extra demand for the product as a result of these other companies.



By acting as a travel agent for as many different operators as possible we have a unique advantage of being able to market several different spaceflight options with our customers. Based on their performance in the spaceflight preparation program we may offer a flight that is more or less stressful for them to endure: Such as a vertical launch.

4.8 Differentiation

Our product differentiation will be the key in achieving our target of >10% of the sub‐orbital market as well as a share of the adventure tourism and corporate markets. Our collaborators are all offering training to their customers only in the few days before their spaceflight. Our preparation program is spread out over several months leading up to the spaceflight allowing passengers to be involved in Space Tourism faster. Our method is safest for the well‐being of passengers and it will help to build confidence and trust in commercial spaceflight and they will associate the Worldview brand with safety, confidence and excitement. Customers who have signed with our collaborators are frustrated at having put down large deposits and not yet experienced any activities. Their customers will become ours and get rewards for their money from day 1 and we believe a large proportion of people who have signed to fly with our collaborators will want to participate in our spaceflight preparation program and we will target them through our marketing.

63% of respondents who said they would be willing to participate in sub‐orbital tourism stated that the view from space was the most important aspect of their decision to take a flight (Futron‐Zogby, 2006). Our training is more suited to this market as we provide views from the aircraft in which people will train as opposed to the simulated computer screen view in NASTAR’s centrifuge.

Market research shows that aspects such as the experience on offer and the views available are much more important to our customers than competitive pricing. The enhanced experience and view that our locations offer will make up an important part of our marketing strategy. 41% of respondents said that in their lives they have spent more than 1 month training for a single event. (Futron‐Zobgy, 2006)



5. Our Management Team

The team met, whilst on a summer university course in Kiruna, Sweden. The course was entitled Manned Space Flight and was run by the space science dept of Umeå University. The course attracted participants from a range of backgrounds, including a medical doctor and an architect as well as physicists, engineers and armed forces personnel.

The course leader challenged us with the task of formulating a business plan for commercial space launches out of Kiruna. With the expertise we had on hand it was decided that we would operate a space tourism business. After several weeks of work, we made a presentation of the plan to a panel of experts from the region. One of which was Olle Norberg, the current director of ESRANGE (The European Space Range). Following the presentation, Dr. Norberg was keen to discuss with the full potential of the plan and offered to partner the venture.

We then formed the company Worldview Spaceflight, while ESRANGE worked on the concept of Spaceport Kiruna. Since the course ended, Kiruna has become an internationally desired location for space tourism and Worldview has attracted large interest from people in the space industry both in Europe and the United States. A further presentation made by Worldview attracted the attention Virgin Galactic. Colin Robinson of Worldview then put Virgin in contact with ESRANGE and in 2007 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Virgin Galactic and Spaceport Sweden for Commercial Space Launches out of the region.

The board currently consists of 2 members: Colin Robinson, and Andrew Quinn.

5.1 Colin Robinson

Colin’s driven and determined approach has kept Worldview Spaceflight going since 2005. In this time, he has been the point of contact for enquiries made to Worldview. In 2006 Colin was invited to speak about Europe’s spaceport developments at the International Space Development Conference. He has built Worldview’s credibility up so that it is now a well known venture within the space community. He has contacts with industry leaders, who often seek advice regarding issues of the future of space tourism, including: Virgin Galactic, ABC Spacelines (Now disbanded), Interplanetary Ventures, and Incredible Adventures. His vision to see the human race extend beyond our planet is the driving force behind the plans that Worldview Spaceflight are putting into practice.



5.2 Andrew Quinn

Andrew has over 20 years experience in the RAF as a safety manager, following this he completed a masters and is now working towards a PhD in Space Flight Safety Management. Andrew’s unique knowledge about building a safety conscious environment around a thriving and bustling public spaceport has been sought after by many industry leaders. He is currently acting as an independent safety consultant for QinetiQ and Boeing.

Andy was also involved in providing safety consultancy to Virgin Galactic during their early stages in 2005, and is now the main advisor on safety and environmental considerations for Spaceport Spain. Andy is committed to acting as Operations Director for Worldview Spaceflight.

5.3 Staffing

In addition to the directors named above. The company can be run with a low number of permanent staff. When operational, in addition to the directors named above we will require a small marketing and sales team of around 2‐3 people. This will be sufficient to run both companies from our central office, currently in Newcastle‐Upon‐Tyne. Worldview will have its postal address based in Farnborough via a Virtual Office. Our relationships with other organizations allow us to keep our permanent staff at this level. The spaceflight preparation program is carried out by facilities run and owned by QinetiQ. Their staff will operate the equipment necessary for the program with a member of Worldview management team on hand to look after the customers on the day. 2 Excel Aviation Ltd provide the aircraft and staff for flight days in the program. These relationships enable us to reduce our overheads so that we only incur significant costs when running a program.

5.4 Consultants

We are working with following agencies in developing our company and brand:

Solicitor.............................Ward Hadaway, Newcastle Upon Tyne. Accountant........................Robson Laidler, Newcastle Upon Tyne. Banking.............................Barclays Bank, United Kingdom. Marketing Consultant.......Think‐M, Newcastle Upon Tyne. Design Consultant.............One Best Way, Newcastle Upon Tyne. PR Consultant…………………..Unique Thinking, Newcastle Upon Tyne



6. Finance

6.1 Making it Possible

In order to bring the cost of access to space down from what Government agencies have invested in the past, the vehicle is designed to be fully reusable and it is reusability that is the key to low cost access to space. Virgin and other companies’ investment in this technology has created a mass market in Space Tourism.

The goal of Worldview Spaceflight is therefore to tap into this market via spaceflight operators to provide a comprehensive and exciting astronaut training solution.

6.2 Making it Profitable

If private industry is to lead the new space age, then access to space has to be profitable. Studies carried out by government agencies have shown that the most lucrative use of space would be through tourism. However, there is no desire for governments to be profitable in the space industry and so they have not pursued space tourism.

The Russian Space Agency has participated in Space Tourism by hiring out a seat on board their spacecraft and a position on board the International Space Station for the princely sum of $20M. This kind of space tourism is clearly out of reach of a mass market and has only yielded 5 space tourists so far. However there has been no shortage of applicants, but numbers of Space Tourists has been limited by the actual mission details, since Tourists are required to participate in a an actual Space Station Mission.

The new class of privately funded sub‐orbital reusable vehicles has reduced the cost per person of flying to space to around $200,000. At this price there is a much larger market.

To make space tourism profitable there are two main factors:

• Reusability – The more man hours it takes to refurbish and refit the vehicle for the next launch increases the cost of that launch and reduces profitability. Sub‐orbital vehicles that are being developed, such as Virgin’s SpaceShipTwo are capable of making 1‐2 trips into Space per day.

• Capacity – The more passengers that can fit inside your vehicle, the greater the income generated per flight. SpaceShipTwo is currently the largest vehicle with 6 passengers. Space Adventures will carry only 1 passenger per flight. Rocketplane XP will carry 4, with the option for a 5th replacing one of he pilots in the co‐pilot front seat, (Premium ticket price)



6.4 Spaceflight Preparation Profitability.

Each Phase of the Spaceflight Preparation Program has a capacity of 12 participants. The cost of running a phase is independent of the number of participants on the course. It is therefore necessary to ensure that we have a full compliment of 12 on every program. We will ensure that we are protected by having a staged booking process. Customers will put down a fully refundable deposit that will become non‐refundable once they have been medically cleared and agreed to take part in a Phase of training on a specific date. They will then be required to pay the remaining balance by 28 days before the program. Worldview has the right to cancel a program up to 28 days before and incur no costs with our providers.

This table shows the cost and profitability of each of our services, these are direct costs of providing the services and do not account for any stationary or marketing:

Service Cost (For 12 participants)

Income (From 12 Participants)

Contribution

Phase 1 £81,140 £102,000 £20,860 Phase 2 £73,940 £96,000 £22,060 Phase 3 £43,370 £90,000 £46,630 Space Flight (Rocketplane) Negligible $20,000 $20,000

6.5 Market Size and Share

The most comprehensive prediction of the size of the Sub‐Orbital Tourism market was commissioned by NASA in 2002 and carried out by Futron Zogby. The market size was revised in 2006 after new information regarding Spaceflight had come to light. This new information was:

• First flights delayed from 2006 to 2008. • Ticket Price increased from $100,000 to $200,000 • Updated wealth statistics for Population.

The result of these new inputs was a very small reduction in the number of projected Sub‐Orbital passengers. Since the biggest change to the new study was the ticket price, this once again confirms that the market is not price driven. Market Projection for Sub‐orbital passengers Year 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017Total Sub‐orbital pax 620 845 1030 1392 1750 2126 2748 3550 4468 5642(Futron/Zogby 2006)



This market study has been accurate for 2008, with around this many people being signed up or paying deposits to the various operators worldwide.

From data released by Virgin Galactic, 40% of their customers have come from Europe. Therefore the market available to Worldview is 40% of the total sub‐orbital market. We have the advantage of being first to market, but there will no doubt be other companies offering similar services to ours opening up in the next few years. In this case, we would not receive all 40% of the market share. Also since there are currently no regulatory requirements for passengers to participate in training, this will reduce the size of the market. Worldview expects to gain 25% of the European market for sub‐orbital tourists; that is 10% of the worldwide market.

Year 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017Total Sub‐orbital pax 620 845 1030 1392 1750 2126 2748 3550 4468 5642WV Share N/A* 48# 103 139 175 213 275 360 450 560 *Not trading # Targeting UK Only

6.6 Repeat Customers

With a staged training process, it is inevitable that not all customers will take all stages, unless regulations call for more comprehensive training for all Space Tourists prior to flight. We expect the following repeat rate from our customers.

Service Participants Phase 1 100% Phase 2 50% Phase 3 25% Sub‐orbital flight (booked with WVSF)

10%

It is crucial that we invest properly in progressing customers on to the next stage of their Spaceflight Preparation. Repeat customers will speak more highly of us when they return to their civilian lives and as people progress through the training, it becomes more profitable for Worldview.

Strategies for repeat customers:

• Discount offered if they book while taking part, eg sign up for Phase 2, within a fortnight of finishing Phase 1. Also discount for booking multiple phases. These discounts will be worked out on an individual basis and will be offered as by the salesman as negotiation.



• Win a Spaceflight – We will purchase one spaceflight from Rocketplane and offer it as a prize draw to spaceflight participants:

o Taking part in Phase 1 gives you 1 entry, o Taking part in Phase 2 gives you 2 entries, and o Taking part in Phase 3 gives 3 you entries.

• On‐Line Peer Pressure – Our website features league table and forums for participants to discuss and compare results from training programs. Our target is made up of market of wealthy individuals, who tend to be competitive in nature and a desire to out‐perform others will drive repeat business.

6.7 Program Schedule

Using the market share information and the repeat customer rates above, it is possible to draw up a projected schedule of training including the numbers of each phase to be run each year:

Year 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

WV Share 0 48 103 139 175 213

Phase 1 Participants 0 48 103 139 175 213 Phase 2 Particpants 0 24 52 70 88 107 Phase 3 Particpants 0 12 26 35 44 53

Space flight participants 0 5 10 14 18 21

No of Phase 1’s 0 4 9 12 15 18

Phase 1 Contribution £ ‐

£ 83,440

£ 179,048

£ 241,628

£ 304,208

£ 370,265

No of Phase 2’s 0 2 4 6 7 9


£ 44,120

£ 94,674

£ 127,764

£ 160,854

£ 195,783

No of Phase 3’s 0 1 2 3 4 4


£ 46,630

£ 100,060

£ 135,033

£ 170,005

£ 206,921

No of Space flights (6 pax) 0 0 0 3 4 5

Sp Flight Contribution* £ ‐

£ ‐

£ ‐

£ 243,000

£ 324,000

£ 405,000

Total Contribution £ ‐

£ 174,190

£ 373,783

£ 747,425

£ 959,068

£ 1,177,968

*Please note that Spaceflight Bookings can be taken from 2009, however the money must remain in escrow until 2011 when the participant flies.


This chart shows the largest contribution comes from Phase 1 customers. It is important therefore to ensure that sufficient marketing is in place to generate new customers coming in to Phase 1.

6.8 The Adventure Market

It is clear that our product also will appeal to the “Adventure Tourist”, a person who is not intending to fly into Space, but wants the experience of going through astronaut training.

Why do we appeal to this market:

• Exclusive product – New to the market and no‐one has done it before

• James Bond effect – Test marketing has revealed that the appeal of the centrifuge is to feel like Roger Moore in Moonraker.

• Bragging Rights – Adventure tourists like to boast amongst their friends, what they have experienced. Astronaut training ranks very highly in this competitive “Bar” mentality.




The Market Size:

The size of the adventure market is far bigger than the sub‐orbital tourist market; however it is already filled with comparable products. Individuals that would purchase spaceflight training would be comparing the experience with others available for a similar price. In this market, repeat customers would be few and far between. Phase 1 would satisfy their hunger for the astronaut experience. For that reason only new customers carrying out Phase 1 are considered. We do not intend to ignore repeat business and marketing will be targeted at those adventure tourists, however we suspect that any repeat business would be a bonus. Worldview has identified the following experiences as being in competition with the spaceflight preparation program amongst the adventure tourist market:

Experience Provider Cost Annual customers Edge of Space Flight in Russian MIG

Incredible Adventures $18,750 2000 since 1993 130 per year

Skydive Everest High and Wild £14,000 24 Supercar Club Member

Ecurie25 £10,000 annually 200

North Pole expedition Polar Explorers €20,900 50 Grand Prix driving experience

Buy a Gift £3,368 600

This gives a market size of 1004 individuals that participate in “once in a lifetime” experiences and pay a premium for it. This is the market that Worldview would tap into by offering Phase 1 of the Spaceflight Preparation Program as an adventure in its own right.

Generally in this field, as price increases, the market decreases. Anomalies are due to the “wow” factor associated with the product and with the complexity of the product. For example, Skydive Everest and Edge of Space flight are comparable in price, but Edge of Space flight wins in market size because:

• The North Pole expedition is complex: travelling to starting point, fitness preparation, high endurance of cold and physical ability required.

• Edge of Space has a bigger “wow” factor.

However, Edge of Space does suffer slightly in its complexity; participants must travel to Russia and obtain a Visa to enter the country.


Phase 1 price, puts us on the line at 321 customers per year, which is a 32% share of this market. The following factors reduce our market share:

• New Product, we have to break into this market against established products. This is easier to do in the adventure tourism industry than other industries, since adventure tourists are always on the look‐out for new adventures. Our partnership with Red Letter Days will help here.

• Not entering the US market, a proportion of the more elaborate adventures on our list: Edge of Space, North Pole expedition; are carried out by Americans. We are not targeting the US market with our Spaceflight Preparation Program since comparable products exist there (NASTAR) and our Public Liability Insurance would be increased by taking on customers from North America.

• Time factor, our Phase 1 adventure requires a larger time commitment to grand prix day and joining the car club, also these adventures take place over the weekend, whereas Phase 1 participants will be required to take 3‐4 weekdays off.

To increase our market share, The Spaceflight Preparation Program has been designed to possess the “wow” factor in abundance. And also to decrease complexity; the entire program takes place within 100 miles of London, all transport and accommodation is taken care of.

The above factors reduce our estimated market share to 10%, or 100 passengers.




Using a prediction of 10% of the adventure market in year 1 and a growth rate of 10% in the adventure and “ecotourism” markets, we can project the following numbers of participants in Phase 1 as an adventure tourism activity over the next 5 years. I have also factored in additional growth as our products are established in the market

Year 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Phase 1 participants (adventure tourism)

96 108 132 168 204

No. of Phase 1s 8 9 11 14 17 Contribution £

166,880 £

187,740 £

229,460 £

292,040 £

354,620

Pulling together contributions from the Spaceflight Preparation Program for Space Tourists, Adventure tourists and commission on Sub‐orbital Spaceflight, our profit projections for the next five years are:

Year 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Space Tourist Contribution

£ 174,190

£ 373,783

£ 504,425

£ 635,068

£ 772,968

Adventure Tourist Contribution

£ 166,880

£ 187,740

£ 229,460

£ 292,040

£ 354,620

Spaceflight Commission Contribution

‐ ‐ £ 243,000

£ 324,000

£ 405,000

Total Contribution £ 341,070

£ 561,523

£ 976,885

£ 1,251,108

£ 1,532,588

Overheads £ 80,000

£ 100,000

£ 115,000

£ 130,000

£ 150,000

Profit £ 261,070

£ 461,523

£ 861,885

£ 1,121,108

£ 1,382,588

6.9 Managing the Risk

Spaceflight has always been seen as a risky activity. Worldview’s approach to safety is embedded into our plans and is the number one concern for our entire organisation. Despite our efforts it is always possible that an accident may occur, whether this is us or one of our competitors, no doubt the whole market will suffer for a period of time after. With the media attention that space tourism attracts, a fatal accident within the industry will be comparable to Titanic, Hindenburg or 9/11. Following each of these disasters the market suffered but has since obviously recovered and the space tourism market is no different. To ensure Worldview will survive if such an event occurs we have ensured that we will have several income streams that will continue to be sustained.



Our spaceflight preparation program will continue as people can take part in exciting activities such as the parabolic flight. There has been a market for these activities for many years, even before the prospect of sub‐orbital space flights.

Our training flights will be carried out under an Air Operators Certificate issued by the UK Civil Aviation Authority. They are therefore subject to the same regulations and guidelines as commercial aviation. 2 Excel Aviation already possess this license and so acquire full liability in the event of any accidents occurring in their planes. This will not detract from Worldview’s commitment to safety and we will constantly monitor and review the training program with 2 Excel to ensure the highest levels of caution are adhered to.

Section 6 B Income Potential From New Products: Product Cost Potential Income Astronaut Club £10.00 £29.95 On line bookstore Nil 50% of profit Pre pay Debit card Nil 50% of profit Space camp weekends £300 £95 per child (up 12 children

per weekend) School Science Course £1000 to produce, £200 per

year to update £1000 per school per year

Visits to schools £200 £400, + potential to market all products above

Professional development for teachers

£500 £120 per teacher per day (up to 12 teachers per course)

Exhibition – Spaceball Ride Initial cost £4,000 for spaceball.

£2 per child, revenue £500 per day

Exhibition Photograph with spacesuit Exhibition sites:

‐ Airshows ‐ Museums ‐ Shopping Centres

Initial cost £1000 for suit £1 per print – also opportunity to download photo from website which builds our contact database. Any exhibitions give us the opportunity to market above products.

The aim for these products is to earn enough revenue to cover the overheads. That way, the astronaut training program will have no outgoing costs until it runs a training program, which generates a profit as shown in above tables.



7. Future Growth

This section is intended to highlight some of the plans that are in the pipeline for the future of Space Tourism. All of these ideas are currently receiving funding and are expected to be available in the next 5 years.

7.1 SubOrbital Spaceflights A sub‐orbital spaceflight is a flight in which the vehicle flies vertically out of the Earth’s atmosphere to an altitude of greater than 100km. At this height passengers will be able to see the blackness of space above and the curvature of the Earth will be seen with some large ground structures, such as mountains being identifiable. While in space passengers will be weightless and able to float freely in the cabin for several minutes. The vehicle then returns to the Earth and lands at the same spaceport it took off from. The entire flight lasts for between 1‐2 hours depending on the vehicle.

Sub‐orbital spaceflights can operate wherever there is a sufficiently long runway for landing and with additional ground infra‐structure put in place for launch. Most large international airports are suitable for landing the spacecraft. There are currently two proposed locations for our sub‐orbital spaceflights in Europe: The Catalonia region of Spain is considering the construction of an operational spaceport and the ESRANGE site in Northern Sweden. Other sites around the world intended for Spaceports are: New Mexico, Oklahoma, Singapore and Dubai.

Flights from Sweden will allow passengers to be flown into the Aurora Borealis. This provides a more exciting experience for passengers as well as a more thrilling spectacle for the observing friends and family of passengers, or other spectators and a better photo opportunity for the on‐looking press. Other sites have been chosen where the weather would allow year‐round operations.

The vehicle is fully reusable and so making multiple launches drives down the cost of each launch. Market research carried out in 2002 showed that 50% of people who wanted to take part in space tourism and had the net worth to afford it (>$250,000), would be willing to pay in excess of $100,000 per flight. Our competitors have released information on the market, so far 100 full payments of $200,000 have been paid to Virgin Galactic and a further 900 deposits have been taken by X‐COR, Rocketplane XP and Virgin Galactic from people willing to pay the full price of $200,000. A further 60,000 individuals have made contact with the intention of paying the same price, however these enquiries are made through the internet without any credit checking and so must be taken lightly, however this does demonstrate that the public do not see a price tag of $200,000 as being unreasonable for the experience. Operators are unable to cope with this market demand and many of those who have made enquiries have expressed a desire to fly from a European rather than American location.



7.2 Aurora Space Tour

The Aurora Space Tour sets sub‐orbital flights apart from competitors and will allow operators to charge a premium for this package. We have held discussions with ESRANGE (The European Space Range), based in Kiruna, Sweden about their plans to construct a spaceport in the region and the capacity to operate training facilities there. Kiruna is one of the best locations in the world for viewing the Aurora Borealis. They will be able to fly passengers into space at the time of the Aurora and provide them with an un‐rivalled experience to take away.

The spaceflight itself is a standard sub‐orbital flight using the same hardware as above, however the package differs in that it takes place during the winter. Customers and their families will be offered luxurious accommodation at the world famous ice hotel, located only minutes away from the spaceport and will be invited to take part in many other “once‐in‐a‐lifetime” experiences available in this part of the world.

Several operators have expressed interest in offering Aurora experiences, however it is possible that any US built vehicles may prevented from flying from Sweden due to legal restriction imposed by the US Dept of Defence (ITAR).

7.3 Branching Out

Despite the technology being in its infancy for every sub‐orbital operator, several are already planning to spread their operations to other locations. Spaceports will feature several operators with different experiences and price ranges available for trips to Space. Worldview has already spoken to one Spaceport location about placing training facilities at the Spaceport. It is envisaged that all Spaceports would feature training facilities and that by this time Worldview will be the world leading experts in operating these facilities and preparing individuals for Space.

7.4 World 1st

An experienced and successful SpacePlane manufacturer is building the World’s 1st Commercial SpacePlane. The thing that separates a SpacePlane from the standard launch vehicle being used for sub‐orbital tourism is the SpacePlane is essentially no different from a normal aircraft on the ground; it takes off under jet power from any commercial runway at any currently existing airport. The SpacePlane however also possess the necessary rocket power and life‐support to fly into sub‐orbital space. This means that it can take off at any airport, fly into clear airspace and fire the rocket in mid‐air, the SpacePlane will fly up into space giving the passengers the usual thrill of micro‐gravity and stunning view they experience on a sub‐orbital flight. While in space, they can reach very high speeds and then re‐enter the atmosphere above some different point on the Earth. Once back in the atmosphere the SpacePlane returns to standard jet engines



and can safely land like any other aircraft at any airport. With this technology they not only provide passengers with an exhilarating spaceflight, but we provide a purposeful means of global transport in record timing. Trans‐Atlantic flights would take under an hour, trans‐pacific flights approx 90 minutes and a journey from Europe to Australia could be complete in around 2 hours.

It is possible to develop a passenger capable version of this vehicle in 4 years. All passengers would be subject to high g‐force on this flight and so would require medical/training clearance.

7.5 Preparing for the next generation

The world’s first recognized space tourist was called Dennis Tito, he paid an alleged $20M for a 7 day stay on board the International Space Station. It is widely believed among people in the industry that orbital tourism will be a reality in 10 years. 2006 saw American Businessman, Robert Bigelow launch a module into orbit as a test station for his orbital hotel. Market Research into orbital tourism was also carried out by Futron‐Zogby in 2002 and it is expected that by 2020 there will have been nearly 500 passengers like Tito, spending 7 days in orbit, perhaps on board Bigelow’s “Orbitel”. With this market expanding, companies who run space hotels or any other space activity will have to employ people to live and work in space for long periods of time. Worldview is planning to expand our spaceflight preparation program to cater for the “merchant astronaut” we will provide training and a recognised qualification to people employed by the space industry to work in space, we will also provide this training to private individuals wishing to gain the necessary qualification so that they can apply for work in space.

7.6 Be a Pioneer

Our company has set out with a goal to expand civilisation beyond the confines of our shrinking planet. If this sounds like fantasy or science fiction, it is at the moment. Realistically people cannot move off world until Space becomes profitable and establishes its own economy. It is our mission to use current technology to give thousands of people the chance to fly into space and to realise its glory. This is the first step to creating a space economy. Proceeds from these sub‐orbital flights will be ploughed into R&D generating new reusable orbital space ships for you to experience longer duration space flights.

Vacations to permanent orbital hotels will be a reality within 20 years. Zero gravity games played in orbital stadiums will attract more revenue and mining of natural resources from other planets and asteroids will not only allow, but will require people to live and work in space. We want to put structures into orbit and between Earth and the Moon, these structures are as important in the economical development of space as roads and railways are in the economical development of a nation or continent.



A Space economy will create thousands of jobs worldwide and will replace Earth based industries such as mining and power generation. Space based solar power is recognised by industry experts as the most viable option to generate 100% green electricity for the planet and is the only viable way to bring power to some areas of the planet. Mining companies are already buying up the rights to asteroids and Moon sites to harvest the trillions of tonnes of raw materials that are floating freely around the Solar System. In a Space economy the sky is no longer the limit.

All of the plans detailed here are being achieved through the use of currently existing technology.

Worldview Spaceflight - Business Plan, Jun-09[1]

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