Branson Offers a Service To Launch Small Satellites

Virgin Galactic, the space venture founded by Richard Branson, the British billionaire, said that it planned to develop a rocket that would carry small satellites into orbit at a fraction of the current cost.

The news came on the third day of the Farnborough International Airshow, where Airbus and Boeing, the world’s two largest commercial jet makers, announced nearly $7 billion in aircraft orders. “I believe this new vehicle will create a long overdue shake-up of the whole satellite industry, disrupting current norms and limitations,” Mr. Branson said at a ceremony that also served to present formally a full-size model of SpaceShipTwo, a bullet-shaped craft that Virgin Galactic expects will carry its first tourists into space as early as next year for $200,000 each.