Important Innovations Collection

  D AILY INNOVATION BRIEF                                                                                                          By Journalists Edward Kane & Maryanne Kane AI PICKS MUSIC HITS WITH NEAR 100% ACCURACY                                                       Source:  Stock AI can identify a hit song with 97.2% accuracy, according to new scientific research The researchers, from California-based Claremont Graduate University, believe the technology can be used to predict what TV shows, movies and even soc...

Virgin Galactic & Richard Branson Make History                     Virgin Galactic Founder Richard Branson                                        VMS Eve with Unity in Center Branson flying to space with co-workers in Unity                                                       SpaceShip Unity                                                  View from Unity                                        Unity launchin...

First Successful Test With Passenger Onboard                                          Source:  Virgin Hyperloop Travel at 620 to 700 MPH In Las Vegas yesterday, Virgin Hyperloop made its first successful run with two passengers onboard.  The high speed travel technology travelled 500 meters in just 15 seconds at the Virgin test site. Speeds hit 107.5 mph. The two passengers, Virgin Hyperloop Cofounder/CTO Josh Giegel and Virgin Hyperloop Director of Passenger Experience Sara Luchian sat in a single pod. They said they enjoyed the very high speed ride. They are the first in the world to take a hyperloop ride. The hyperloop carries passengers in small pods that levitate through a vacuum tube.  It is capable of speeds up to 700 mph.  Some experts believe it will revolutionize travel. An expert in Sweden calls it "the barf ride" because of the pote...

Satellite Launching Business                                                 Source:  Virgin Orbit Targets $1 Billion Valuation Richard Branson's satellite launching business Virgin Orbit hopes to raise $200 million in a round of funding.  That would place the valuation of the company at $1 Billion.  The money will be used to fund satellite launches and for capital expenditures.   The Wall Street Journal first reported Branson's target of $200 million in funding. 747 Jumbo Jet Approach Branson is using highly modified 747 jumbo jets to launch, from mid air, rockets carrying satellites and place them in orbit.  The target market is small satellites ranging from the size of a toaster to a household refrigerator.  The satellites are placed in low Earth orbit for highly sophisticated services ranging from commerci...

Business Growth Through Space Tourism & Commercial Flights Source:  Virgin Galactic LA to Tokyo in 2 Hours Billionaire entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson is a brilliant innovator.  And he has beyond supersonic plans for his space travel company Virgin Galactic.  By the end of 2020, he expects to have flown the first commercial tourism flight into space.  Nearly 8,000 tourists have signed up for a space flight at a cost of $250,000 each.  But Branson business plans go way beyond space tourism.  He wants to revolutionize commercial air travel by using his space vehicles for greatly accelerated air travel here on Earth. Beyond Supersonic Speed - Spaceline Flying Virgin Galactic says it is the only company that can deliver flying at greater than supersonic speed in a winged aircraft.  It calls the high speed flying "Spaceline" flying.  The company says its spaceship Unity and two other space vehicles under construction can be used to vas...

Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit  Air Launch System Source:  Virgin Orbit's  747 with rocket under its wing Close to Commercial Launches - Aiming for Summer's End Virgin Orbit, Richard Branson's second space company, expects to perform its first commercial satellite launch from a modified 747 aircraft by the end of this summer.  The company just successfully completed a test on the modified 747 over the Mojave Desert.  It dropped a fake rocket from tens of thousands of feet.  The 747 is named Cosmic Girl.  It carries the company's LaunchOne Rocket under its wing. Cosmic Girl's Differentiator There are a lot of key players in the commercial space launch industry including Elon Musk's Space X and Rocket Lab.  What differentiates Virgin Orbit is that it is an air launch, not a ground based, launch system like Space X and Rocket Lab. Air Born Rocket Launches Virgin Orbit fires off a rocket from the 747 to launch satellites, which the compa...

Space Tourism Headed to NYSE Source:  Virgin Galactic Space Plane World's First Listed Space Tourism Company Richard Branson is taking his space tourism company Virgin Galactic to the stock market to sell shares in the company.  His hope is the share price will go into intergalactic orbit.  Virgin Galactic will be the world's first space tourism company that's publicly traded.  He's doing this by merging with Social Capital Hedosophia, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange.  By merging with a listed company, Branson avoids the need and expense of an Initial Public Offering and investor road shows. Cash Flows The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2019.  Social Capital Hedosophia will acquire 49% of Virgin Galactic for an estimated price of $1.3 billion. There are reports that will raise $800 million in cash for Branson's company.  Branson's goal in going public is to generate cash until Virgin Galactic starts turning a pr...

Milestone for Sir Richard Branson Source:  Virgin Galactic - Unity Branson's Space Tourism Company Takes Off Virgin Galactic says its tourism spaceship just climbed more than 50 miles in altitude. The company considers that the boundary of space. Unity Virgin space ship Unity was released from a carrier aircraft over California's Mojave Desert early this morning and fired off its rocket engines for the journey into space. Two pilots were at the controls of Unity for the flight. Successful Landing After crossing into space at an altitude of 51 miles, Unity then began gliding down in its descent back to earth.  It landed successfully. Mission accomplished.  Virgin Galactic plans to take paying tourists on short trips to space, possibly within  a year. For more about Virgin Galactic and other travel innovation, check out my Amazon Author Page at  amazon.com/author/ekane   Ed Kane.