Space Air Travel – the new frontier. If NZ and Australia were only 2 hours away



Virgin Galactic SpaceShip Two craft

The history of spaceflight is short and until recently, largely uninnovative. Nazi scientist Wernher von Braun helped develop the basic technology, which involved using large amounts of liquid fuel to push large weights to escape velocity. This technique lasted throughout the cold war and beyond.

Today, Virgin Galactic is trying to buck the trend. Its SpaceShip Two craft, designed by Scaled Composites, is essentially a glider with a rocket attached. Carried aloft by a subsonic aircraft, it is launched in the air and then the rocket carries it to 109km (just over the 'Karman Line' which delineates suborbital flight from atmospheric flight). Then it glides back to earth, completing the three-hour mission.

But perhaps the real story here is the potential to apply this technology to inter-continental space travel around the Earth. Experts say that by travelling into near-Earth orbit, the length of inter-continental flights could be cut dramatically, so a flight from London to Sydney could last just two hours.

Imagine what it would mean if the Asia Pacific region were to be within commuting distance for passenger travel to Europe, US, Latin American and Africa. It would dramatically change the notion of time and space in such a way that we have not known since the invention of telegraph technology that modernised the world in the 19^th century by breaching time and space.

Inter-continental space travel would bring the world geographically closer and would eliminate the distance barrier for the world's most isolated countries like New Zealand. In elapsed time travelling New Zealand would be as close to London as Northern European countries. It would bring continents together.

For the first time we are closer than ever to this becoming a reality in the 21^st century.

What has happened so far

The construction of the World's first facility for commercial space travel in the Rio Grande valley of New Mexico is nearing completion. Spaceport America is the first of its kind in the world. Virgin Galactic has signed up to be the anchor tenant for 20 years and has dedicated hundreds of millions of US dollars to developing the technology.

The inauguration of the world's first spaceway (that is runway for space air travel) at the world's first commercial built spaceport was held in Autumn last year.



Spaceport America - the world's first Spaceport for commercial
space travel

Virgin Galactic's Sir Richard Branson said at the event “...the last few weeks have been some of the most exciting in Virgin Galactic’s development. Our spaceship is flying beautifully and will soon be making powered flights, propelled by our new hybrid rocket motor, which is also making excellent progress in its own test program...we are seeing unprecedented numbers of people coming forward to secure their reservations for this incredible experience.”

It is still unclear when Virgin Galactic will make it's first flight into space but the Geo Trade blog will continue to monitor progress on the first space flights closely and will keep you updated on all developments on near-Earth orbit inter-continental flights.

Photos Source: Courtesy of the Virgin Galactic website

China gets new Dry Canal through Colombia – its own strategic route across the high seas

New Chinese Dry Canal rail-link between Pacific and Atlantic Oceans

China is in advanced talks with the Colombian government to build an alternative to the Panama Canal. China is leading the world in one of the biggest strategic projects of the 21^st century, one that will link the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, again.

For centuries, visionaries dreamed of uniting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by forging a path across Central America's slender isthmus. This single, ultra-strategic waterway, transformed the commercial map of the world. It not only lopped 7,000 miles off the New York-to-San Francisco shipping route avoiding Cape Horn, but also brought Europe much closer to Asia.

Today, something new and equally dramatic is happening. China's Development Bank is preparing to invest $US7.6 billion to build a whole new rail-road Dry Canal on the Colombian side of the isthmus for the China Railway Group to ship goods from Asia to the Atlantic side of the fast-growing Latin American continent.

The new 220km Dry Canal rail link would run from Cupica on the Pacific (involving the expansion of the Port Buenaventura) to a new port Uraba near Cartagena on Colombia's Atlantic coast. Imported Chinese goods would be assembled for re-export through the Americas and beyond, with Colombia-sourced raw materials filling ships making the return journey to Asia. This would give China its own 50m-tonne-per-year trade conduit avoiding Panama's US controlled pinch-point.

In 2011, the Panama canal carries 300m tonnes of shipping annually – compared to the 80m it was designed to accommodate. Since it was built world trade has expanded enormously. Large modern cargo ships, including LNG gas vessels, simply cannot fit through which is why the canal's vast lock gates are currently being widened.

Growing Influence of Latin American countries

China has established a new Strategic partnership with Colombia and the wider Americas region filling a vacuum in the breakdown in US-Colombia relations in recent years underlined by the US string-along-and-dither policy on whether to sign a free-trade pact with Colombia.

There is a possibility that the rail links may extend through Venezuela to give it access to the Pacific and greater clout, and Brazilian companies may bid for some contracts.

Colombia is the world's fifth largest producer of coal - currently most of it is exported from Atlantic ports to the US and Europe. The new Dry Canal rail-link would open up options for Latin American countries to export such resources, via Pacific ports, to Asia and China.

The Panama Canal

The Panama Canal was and perhaps remains, one of the greatest feats of engineering in human history. Once completed, the canal effectively ended the imperial battle of trade routes and did so in America's favour when it opened in 1914. The symbolism of the First World War breaking out in Europe while the 'New World' took control of the seas was unmistakeable. The symbolism is equally clear 100 years later emphasizing the might of China's modern-day economic and commercial power.