Friday, June 22, 2007

New Player in the Game: European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company- Astrium

Inside of space jet cabin. Source: EADS.net
It seems that Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic are going to have some serious direct competition in the near future. The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, or EADS for short, has recently announced its plans to enter the suborbital space tourism race [see announcement]. The project leader, Marc Newsome, has said that they would like to begin the project in 2008 and if they are able to do so then a first commercial flight would possibly be available by 2012. Marc Newsome will be in charge of designing the interior cabin which is said to have "highly innovative seats [that will] balance themselves to minimize the effects of acceleration and deceleration, ensuring the greatest passenger comfort and safety." The Australian born designer has been named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. As Creative Director of Qantas Airways, he has also been responsible for the design of their entire fleet including the Airbus A380 and I can say from personal experience that Qantas has, by far, been the best airline with which I have traveled.

Space jet floating in suborbital space. Source: EADS.net
The Flight

The flight will consist of two stages on a space jet comparable to a business jet sized vehicle and will carry four passengers. The space jet will take off from a conventional airport and normal jet engines will carry the craft to an altitude of 12 km when the rocket engines will be ignited. In a mere 80 seconds the rockets will have propelled the space jet all the way up to an altitude of 60 km. The ship will receive enough boost from the rockets to lift it to its peak altitude of 100 km where it will hover weightlessly for 3 minutes and give tourists an incredible view of the Earth. Passengers will get plenty of opportunity to catch a view with the 15 windows, each 30% bigger than a standard jet window. The jet will then make its descent slowly until the jet engines can safely be initiated. The jet will then land at a standard airfield. In total, the entire trip will last between an hour and an hour and a half.

Below is the promotional video of a flight from EADS Astrium:


Financing

Estimated to cost around one billion euros, the project will largely be supported by private capital. Return on investment will from the emerging and very promising suborbital space tourism market. Astrium says that the price per ticket could be anywhere from €150,000 to €200,000. Following five years of operation, EADS Astrium hopes to have claimed 30% of the space tourism market.

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It seems that the private space industry is growing at an ever faster pace. I can only hope that this is just the beginning. My guess is that we will witness several other companies make announcements about entering the great private space race before 2012--especially if Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipOne and Bigewlow Aerospace's space hotels take-off (no pun intended). I do believe we are at the start of an exciting time period here.

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1 comment:

梁爵 said...

酒店打工是一個什麼樣的環境,可能對許多男生來說已經是習慣在不過的地方了。
其實酒店工作環境就跟平常去錢櫃、好樂迪KTV很像,幾乎都是獨立式包廂,包廂內還有洗手間,當然酒店上班還有點歌系統可以歡唱,有的店家歌曲更新進度實在不輸錢櫃。那酒店跟錢櫃好樂迪一樣為什麼還是這麼多人想去消費呢?在此歸類幾項
酒店上班要怎麼計算?
酒店的帳單大約分為三個部分:小姐的費用、酒錢、包廂加少爺費用(可能包含桌面水果的錢)。
小姐費用:台北酒店均為六節店,小姐記費以節數為主,10分鐘為一節。為了方便計算小姐的費用,都會用一小時的時間來報價,報價金額大約在1600 - 2100左右,不同類型的店家小姐則會有不同的價位。
酒錢:啤酒的價位大約在40 - 50元,洋酒因為年分的區隔有也很大的價差,以一支蘇格登來說價錢大約在1600 - 1800左右。
包廂加少爺小費:大多為1000元,如果要選擇氣派又高級的包廂場地,會視包廂的大小等級另外加價2000 - 8000不等。
重點:
1.店家裝潢富麗堂皇,讓人有賓至如歸的感受。
2.少爺給予尊榮至上的頂級服務,店家少爺在店內統稱客人老闆,光聽就讓人覺得自己的等級提升許多。
3.多了現場的公關佳麗在旁倒酒、陪聊天,這也是許多人來酒店消費的重點,不管事談事情還是談生意,身旁多了位美女就是會替整個局加分許多。
酒店價格計算懶人包.png
酒店價格計算懶人包
假設兩位客人消費兩小時,喝一支蘇格登,消費計算如下:
小姐費用:一小時1800 x 2小時 x 2人 = 7200元
酒錢:1800元(蘇格登)
包廂加少爺小費:1000元
總共7200 + 1800 + 1000 = 10000元
包廂費:制服店1000,禮服店,便服店1000 - 5000不等。
服務費:少爺小費1000元。
餐點費用:桌面費用有小菜、水果、礦泉水1000元。
酒水費:通常比市價高1.5成,若是啤酒暢飲約加300。