Former Disneyland director launches tourists into space

Michael Colglaser spent three decades at Disney running the entertainment giant's theme park business before joining Virgin Galactic. Hebert/Getty Images

Last Thursday, friends, family and crew gathered on the runway at Spaceport America in Nevada to watch Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity glide across clear skies 55 miles to the edge of space.

In flight was the youngest woman in space, 18-year-old student of the University of Aberdeen Anastasia Myers. Joe Goodwin, an 80-year-old former British Olympic champion who paid for his seat in 2005, was also on board.

This was Virgin Galactic's first flight to carry tourists rather than scientists or company employees. into space.

Among those watching from the ground was Michael Colglaser, the 56-year-old former Disney executive hired by Sir Richard Branson to turn space into a theme park for the rich.

Sending amateur astronauts into space is the culmination of a twenty-year journey Virgin Galactic and its founder and longtime financier Sir Richard Branson. The project cost billions of dollars to get started and was plagued by years of delays and disasters.

Colglazier was brought in three years ago to help commercialize the business after it finally escaped a long and difficult development. process.

Thursday's flight was «an incredibly good day,» Colglazier told The Sunday Telegraph.

Before joining Virgin Galactic, Colglazier spent three decades at Disney, culminating in managing an international theme park business.

Virgin Galactic&# 39;s VSS Unity takes paying customers 55 miles to the very edge of space . Photo: Virgin Galactic/PA

From the outside, the appointment seemed unusual.

After joining the business in 2020, one analyst joked that Colglazier had taken on «an entirely new kind of space mountain,» referring to the rollercoaster ride at Disneyland. Colglaser replied, «Space Mountain is my favorite place.»

In a conversation with The Telegraph, Colglaser says the two companies have more in common than you might think. The essence of both is to keep tourists satisfied.

«We're here to create an experience that will last for years and last a lifetime,» he says.

< p>For Colglazier, flying Virgin Galactic should be more than just five minutes of weightlessness, which tourists enjoy being high above the ground.

The sweeping, futuristic design of its Spaceport America base demonstrates this ambition. The port offers visitors a panorama of the runway and mountains through huge elliptical windows. The entire building stretches upward like a runway into the sky.

3006 Virgin Galactic Mission

The space port was designed by star architecture firm Foster + Partners who helped Apple build its retail stores and create The Gherkin Tower in London.

Virgin Galactic's ultimate goal is to «deliver powerful, meaningful experiences» through «a multi-year journey culminating in a week at our spaceport.» , says Kolglazier.

The company has hired several more former Disney executives, including one of the lead «imaginators» John Rohde, to work on the Virgin Galactic hospitality experience.

Astronauts who stay at the spaceport may bring a few guests or family to the retreat . The company promises «luxury accommodation for astronauts on an all-inclusive basis», and guests receive special tours and trips.

After the flight, astronauts are presented with their astronaut «wings» at an official ceremony: a badge signifying they have been in the atmosphere for more than 50 miles.

Customers are also granted a «lifetime membership» to the Virgin Galactic Ex-Flyer Club, who tickets are offered to exclusive events where they can reminisce about space.

Colglaser says, «We're not here to drive you up and down so you can take a selfie.»

However, the biggest plus is seeing Earth from space.

If Colglaser and Sir Richard's bet pays off, Spaceport America could become a kind of Disneyland for the super-rich.

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A seat on its rockets costs $450,000, putting it on par with other exclusive activities such as deep-sea expeditions to visit the wreck of the Titanic.

Now Virgin Galactic plans to run a mission every month. Each trip can accommodate three tourists, and the company currently has a reserve of about 800 up-and-coming astronauts, indicating that it has enough demand for flights for years to come.

Sir Richard is not the only one betting on space tourism. : Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is also proposing to put the rich into orbit.

Sir Richard nearly beat Bezos in the race to send a billionaire into space in 2021. Since then, Blue Origin has grown in strength and has flown six crewed tourist missions. However, her New Shepard rocket has been shut down since last September.

Elon Musk's SpaceX has offered several charter flights, flying three private jets into space for $55 million in 2022, though it's mainly focused on satellite launches and NASA's upcoming mission to the Moon. Colglaser says Virgin Galactic is currently working on a new production line and next-generation Delta spacecraft that will be cheaper and able to fly multiple missions at once. month. It is hoped that the ship will be ready by 2026.

The CEO has also set himself the task of boosting the company's share price, which has fallen 94% from its peak two years ago. Colglazier hopes to be able to defy gravity like the passengers of Virgin Galactic.

«I'm still there,» said Keisha Shahaff, who won a flight ticket last week at a charity auction organized by Space for Humanity. Thursday evening. “I'm not there yet. It's amazing how you can land on the runway so smoothly coming back from space. It really was the best trip of my life.”