WASHINGTON — Space tourists came closer to a
one-stop shop as Space Adventures announced today its Jan. 1 purchase of Zero
Gravity Corp., or Zero-G, which provides paying passengers brief periods of
weightlessness aboard a modified Boeing 727 aircraft known as G-Force One.
The
acquisition 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 Space
Adventures. Anderson's Vienna, Va.-based firm arranges trips aboard Russian
Soyuz vehicles to the international space station.
Space
Adventures spokeswoman Stacey Tearne declined to discuss the price paid for
Zero-G.
"Bringing
the companies together allows us to provide a range of exclusive commercial
spaceflight services from parabolic flights to orbital missions," said Peter
Diamandis, Zero-G's chief executive officer. Diamandis, who also co-founded
Space Adventures, will remain as Zero G's chief executive and becomes a
managing director of Space Adventures. Byron Lichtenberg, former NASA
astronaut, continues as Zero-G's chief technology officer.
Zero-G
provides passengers with a
brief training session followed by a 90-minute flight during which G-Force One
performs a series of parabolas that enable passengers to experience Martian
gravity, lunar gravity and zero gravity. Zero-G has carried more than 5,000
customers on more than 175 flights since 2004. The company won a research and
training contract from NASA in January worth as much as $25 million.
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