Space Adventures Buys Zero-G

Now Boarding: Zero G Flights for the Public
The airborne roller coaster is a specially modified 727. (Image credit: Zero Gravity Corp)

WASHINGTON — Space tourists came closer to aone-stop shop as Space Adventures announced today its Jan. 1 purchase of ZeroGravity Corp., or Zero-G, which provides paying passengers brief periods ofweightlessness aboard a modified Boeing 727 aircraft known as G-Force One.

Theacquisition cements Space Adventures'control of Zero-G, in which it had been a substantial investor "for years,"according to Eric Anderson, president and chief executive officer of SpaceAdventures. Anderson's Vienna, Va.-based firm arranges trips aboard RussianSoyuz vehicles to the international space station.

SpaceAdventures spokeswoman Stacey Tearne declined to discuss the price paid forZero-G.

"Bringingthe companies together allows us to provide a range of exclusive commercialspaceflight services from parabolic flights to orbital missions," said PeterDiamandis, Zero-G's chief executive officer. Diamandis, who also co-foundedSpace Adventures, will remain as Zero G's chief executive and becomes amanaging director of Space Adventures. Byron Lichtenberg, former NASAastronaut, continues as Zero-G's chief technology officer.

Zero-Gprovides passengers with abrief training session followed by a 90-minute flight during which G-Force Oneperforms a series of parabolas that enable passengers to experience Martiangravity, lunar gravity and zero gravity. Zero-G has carried more than 5,000customers on more than 175 flights since 2004. The company won a research andtraining contract from NASA in January worth as much as $25 million.

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Colin Clark
Contributing Writer

Colin Clark, the founding editor of Breaking Defense, also started DoDBuzz.com, the world’s first all-online defense news website, He covered Congress, intelligence and regulatory affairs for Space News; founded and edited the Washington Aerospace Briefing, a newsletter for the space industry; covered national security issues for Congressional Quarterly; and was editor of Defense News. Colin, an avid fisherman, grill genius and wine drinker, lives in his native Washington, D.C. but will eventually be relocating to Australia where he will report on Asia and Pacific defense matters for Breaking Defense.