Peter Wainwright, one of the two founders of Space Future, has received an Orbit Award, given by Space Tourism Society.

The New York Times has written an article about space fashion (registration required). In brief, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Rocketplane Ltd. are sponsoring a zero-gravity fashion competition "for clothes that look good in zero gravity. The best designs will appear in a fashion show in Tokyo this fall."

According to this CNN article, "The Federal Aviation Administration is reviewing proposals from New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas to be gateways for private space travel."

Space travel holds some unanswered questions for observant Muslims, but the most important is "which way is Mecca?" To answer that, Malaysia's National Space Agency held a conference in late April.

According to Business 2.0 magazine via CNN, even though suborbital tourism and space hotels do not currently exist, "[a]ll, however, have the potential to generate astronomical returns during the next decade."

by Carol Pinchefsky

Arlington, Va. – February 16, 2006 -- Space Adventures, Ltd., the world’s leading space experiences company, announnced today a contract with Prodea, a private investment firm founded by the Ansari family, and a separate contract with the Federal Space Agency of the Russian Federation (FSA), to develop a fleet of suborbital spaceflight vehicles for commercial use globally. This joint venture will fully develop and provide a set of turnkey operational space tourism systems that include the delivery of several suborbital launch vehicles to multiple global locations.

Arlington, Va. – February 17, 2006 -- Space Adventures, Ltd., the world’s leading space experiences company, announced today its plans to develop a commercial spaceport in Ras Al-Khaimah (the UAE), with plans to expand globally. Other potential spaceport locations include Asia, specifically Singapore, and North America. The total estimated cost of the glob! al spaceport development project is at least $265 million (USD) and will be funded by various parties, along with shared investments by Space Adventures and the government of Ras Al-Khaimah. The company, which organized orbital flights for all of the world's private space explorers, also announces that His Highness Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi of Ras Al-Khaimah, along with the UAE Department of Civilian Aviation, have granted clearance to operate suborbital spaceflights in their air space.

According to a CNN article, NASA is looking to privatize its flight service to the International Space Station.

The SpaceX launch of their rocket, Falcon 1, has been scrubbed. According to CEO of Space Explorations, Elon Musk, "an auxiliary liquid oxygen ( LOX) fill tank had a manual vent valve incorrectly set to vent. The time it took to correct the problem resulted in significant LOX boiloff and loss of helium, and it was the latter that caused the launch abort."