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Marc Newson's Designs For The Astrium Space Jet

Richard Branson may have Philippe Starck in his corner for his Virgin Galactic space plans but the folks at EADS Astrium have another world-dominating designer for their new space plane on their team: Marc Newson. Newson's designs for the spaceplane were unveiled last week in Paris. Newson, who has already designed for several private jets as well as for Qantas, worked with the unique challenges of a plane which has both jet and rocket engines and will allow weightless flight (note the handles in the picture above). The interior was kept simple and the biggest challenge was the seats which have to be compact and light and comfortable for both traditional flight and rocket flight. The solution was a sort of hammock-like seat that is mounted on pivot points that move when the plane's angle changes. Newson is also famed for his love of bright colors, hence the canary yellow seats. After the jump, a few more shots of Newson's unique design.

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Tags: design, designer, marc newson, MarcNewson, place, space, spacejet, spaceplane