[extropy-chat] VIRGIN GALACTIC: Profitable already

[Stephen Van_Sickle]

--- Mike Lorrey <mlorrey at yahoo.com> wrote:

> William Shatner, Captain Kirk of the original Star
> Trek show, has
> ponied up $276,000.00, along with 7000 other people,
> for tickets on
> Branson's fledgling fleet of suborbital rocket
> ships. This translates
> to $1.77 Billion in ticket sales before a single
> vehicle has been
> built.

I don't think this is correct.  7000 people have
"expressed interest".  Nobody has put up any money. 
Tickets have *not* been sold.  And it was pretty easy
to "express interest", since it was a selection when
you sign up for the Virgin Galactic mail list.  I
checked one of the lesser choices, since there is no
way I could afford it, but it would have been easy
enough to exagerate slightly and say I could.

That said, I think he will have no problem at all
finding enough business to make a tidy profit.