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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Michael Colglazier, a Disney executive, has been appointed chief executive officer of Virgin Galactic as the space tourism company prepares for commercial service.
Colglazier had most recently been president and managing director of Disney Parks International, Virgin Galactic said Wednesday.
“I believe Michael’s long and distinguished career at one of the world’s leading customer experience brands provides a natural fit with Virgin’s culture as well as Galactic’s requirements as it prepares for commercial service,” founder Richard Branson said in a statement.
Colglazier takes over the CEO role on July 20 from George Whitesides, who will now be chief space officer and focus on future business opportunities, including point-to-point hypersonic travel and orbital space travel, Virgin Galactic said.
Colglazier will also join the board of directors of Virgin Galactic, which is now publicly traded.
The company is currently in a flight test program progressing toward launching paying passengers on suborbital flights into the lower reaches of space over New Mexico.
Virgin Galactic’s current spacecraft, a type called SpaceShipTwo, is designed for suborbital flights, rocketing up into space and then descending without going into orbit around the Earth.
Hypersonic describes flight at speeds above Mach 5, which would slash global travel times.
Source: travelweekly.com
 -- Michael Colglazier, a Disney executive, has been appointed chief executive officer of Virgin Galactic as the space tourism company prepares for commercial service. Colglazier had most recently been president and managing director of Disney Parks International,… "Pin It")