PlanetSpace update

MSNBC’s Alan Boyle checks in with PlanetSpace, one of the lesser-known space tourism companies. PlanetSpace evolved from Canadian Arrow, one of the two Canadian X Prize entrants (The da Vinci Project being the other); Canadian Arrow planned to develop a vehicle similar to the V-2 for suborbital spaceflights. Most of the focus of the report is on the company’s “Silver Dart” orbital spacecraft, which was proposed for NASA’s COTS program but did not make the cut. Still, the company is proceeding on several fronts, including negotiating a Space Act agreement with an unnamed NASA center, working with the Canadian Space Agency on plans for an orbital spaceport in Canada, and may get involved with ESA’s space tourism initiative.

It’s difficult to tell how seriously to take all of these developments. Entrepreneurial ventures will often explore many avenues to seek markets and funding, but run the risk of spreading themselves too thin. It’s notable what the MSNBC report doesn’t discuss: the progress on the Canadian Arrow vehicle itself, which is still mentioned on the PlanetSpace site but isn’t brought up in the article other than the fact that clusters of the booster would be used to launch the Silver Dart. (Also unclear is how the Chicago-based PlanetSpace could participate in the ESA program; at the very least, they would have to establish a European subsidiary or partner with a European company.) PlanetSpace chairman Chirinjeev Kathuria said that many of his company’s plans have to stay confidential for now while details are worked out. That’s fine, but progress is even better.