SPACESHIPONE

Our Client: SpaceShipOne is a pioneering suborbital spaceplane that marked a significant milestone in private spaceflight. It was developed by Mojave Aerospace Ventures, a partnership between aircraft designer Burt Rutan of Scaled Composites and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. SpaceShipOne is renowned for winning the Ansari X-Prize in 2004, a space competition in which the X Prize Foundation offered $10,000,000 prize for the first non-government organization to launch a reusable crewed spacecraft into space twice within two weeks.

Our Challenge: We knew we could generate local media coverage in the city of Mojave, California for the winner of the competition. As there would be few visitors interested in driving the distance, we had to find ways to spark interest and at the same time be prepared for a possible disaster of a failed launch and loss of life.

Our Approach: JCI needed to design a media and public relations plan with the knowledge of the experimental and unverified nature of the rocket and space flight given this was never done by any group other than global governments.

Our Results: To generate buzz, we targeted the aviation press and aviation enthusiasts to help spread the word. We expanded those targets to mainstream publication reporters who covered aviation and technology. When all was said and done, there were well over 100 members of the media, satellite trucks, and every major media outlet present for the launch. At the same time, it was estimated that there were 40,000 spectators lining the highways, fields, and desert watching the launch and subsequent landing. The flights were depicted across the front pages of newspapers across the globe.