Posted: Thu, Feb 10, 2005, 5:57 AM ET (1057 GMT)
A group of aerospace and space tourism companies has formed an "industry federation" that will seek to promote the industry and develop safety standards for it. The federation, organized by the X Prize Foundation, includes vehicle developers like Pioneer Rocketplane, Scaled Composites, SpaceX, and XCOR Aerospace, as well as space tourism companies Space Adventures and Virgin Galactic. An early task for the federation will be to create a "Voluntary Personal Spaceflight Industry Consensus Standards Organization" that will develop safety standards for commercial passenger spacecraft. Organizers said the federation will allow the industry to work with government regulators "in one voice". Other details about the industry federation have yet to be released.

Related Links:

•  MSNBC article
•  SPACE.com article
•  AP article
•  Business Wire press release