Commercial

History’s first commercial space mission ended today as SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft returned to Earth. The 21-day flight to the International Space Station (ISS) ended when the unmanned cargo ship splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at 12:22 p.m. PDT. The mission, designated CRS-1, is the first of twelve SpaceX is sending to the ISS as part of NASA’s plan to replace the retired Space Shuttle with privately built and operated spacecraft that will one day carry both cargo and crew.  Read More

A new chapter has been written in the history of space exploration with the successful launch of the first commercial cargo flight to the International Space Station (ISS). The reusable unmanned freighter Dragon was lifted into orbit today at 8:35 PM EDT (October 8, 0135 GMT) by a Falcon 9 booster from the Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and is scheduled to rendezvous with the ISS on Tuesday. Carrying 905 kg (1,995 lbs) of cargo, this is the first of twelve contracted flights that Dragon is scheduled to make to the station.  Read More

Planetary Resources, a new player in the commercial space industry, is backed by a host of tech and aerospace luminaries with an integrated personal net worth on the far side of US$30 billion. A press release from the company hints that it will look to establish asteroid mining operations in space.  Read More

While many of us may think that retail salespeople are already doing quite enough to sell us their wares, the folks over at the Recom Group obviously believe that face-to-face sales still has some untapped potential. That's why they've developed the Video Name Tag, a 2.8-inch OLED screen that displays still and/or video advertising, that salespeople wear like a traditional name tag. Now, why they're trying to sell you one product, you can get the goods on another by staring at their chest.  Read More

Probably the vehicle with the most marketplace impact at next weeks Geneva Show will be the Renault Kangoo Van Maxi Z.E.. It's a viable electric commercial vehicle with orders being taken now and will be available before year’s end in short and long (an extra 40 cm) wheelbase in two seat or a clever five seat crew van version offering four different interior layouts and a rear bench seat that folds into the floor for a completely flat deck. The 22kWh lithium-ion battery is located beneath the floor, is leased by the van owner at GBP59 per month regardless of whether you buy or lease the vehicle, and drives a 44kW electric motor for a range of 105 miles. A lot of emphasis has been placed on the Man Machine Interface and there's a range of connected services for the public and a connected Fleet Asset Management suite for fleet managers. Every option available for the established and vast Kangoo petrol model range is available in the electric version too.  Read More

Out of financial necessity, Russia was one of the innovators when it came to the burgeoning field of space tourism, with American businessman and former JPL scientist Dennis Tito becoming the first space tourist in mid-2001 when he spent nearly eight days in orbit on the Russian Soyuz TM-32, the International Space Station (ISS), and Soyuz TM-31. Following Russia’s halting of orbital space tourism earlier this year due to an increase in the ISS crew size, private Russian company, Orbital Technologies, has now announced plans to build, launch and operate the world’s first commercial space station (CSS). It envisions the station will be used by professional crews and corporate researchers to conduct scientific experiments, as well as private citizens looking for an out of this world holiday destination.  Read More

The latest in our series of early technologies from Michael Bennett-Levy’s collection looks at the world’s first commercial business computer, the LEO II/3. The LEO II (short for Lyons Electronic Office) was the successor to the LEO I, which was designed by Oliver Standingford and Raymond Thompson of J. Lyons and Co. – one of the UK’s leading catering and food manufacturing companies in the first half of the 20th century.  Read More

We’ve seen the mothership from which the world’s first manned commercial spaceship will be air launched and we’ve even seen design images of the craft itself. Now Virgin Galactic has unveiled the actual spaceship that will take private astronauts into space - SpaceshipTwo (SS2). The unveiling at Mojave Air and Spaceport today marks the first time the craft has been revealed to the public since construction began in 2007 and brings Virgin Galactic another step closer to realizing its goal of becoming the world’s first commercial space line providing private sector access to space.  Read More

Acer certainly isn’t resting on its laurels. Following on from a recent flurry of new product releases comes the All-In-One Veriton Z280G desktop PC. With an emphasis on energy and space saving qualities, Acer is taking aim firmly at the commercial computing market.  Read More