Virgin Galactic, NASA to collaborate on research

Virgin Galactic and NASA have agreed on a two-year agreement to collaborate on future technologies for commercial spaceflight.

Under terms of the deal, researchers from Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic will explore possible collaborations with scientists at the NASA Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley.

Refuting earlier reports, NASA also issued a clarification stating the deal does not include training of NASA astronauts, an agreement to buy seats on a Virgin Galactic flight, or provision of technical advice by NASA to Virgin Galactic.

These collaborations will likely include work on suborbital spaceflight. Other potential projects include research on future technologies such as space suits, heat shields, hybrid rocket motors and hypersonic vehicles capable of travelling at five or more times the speed of sound.

The agreement is a tentative step toward a future public-private partnership in commercial space travel. Under terms of the agreement, neither side will be required to pay any fees or provide funds to support the areas of possible collaboration.

But NASA, which has faced cutbacks in recent years, sees the agreement as a chance to work more closely with private companies interested in space exploration.

"This new type of private-public partnership can benefit the agency while helping to foster a new industry," said Dan Coughlin, NASA's lead for the Virgin Galactic agreement.

Virgin Galactic plans to take six passengers on a suborbital flightin its SpaceShipTwo by 2008.