Challenge
In 2004, Eric Rose led a team of PR professionals to organize several hundred reporters to cover the launch of SpaceShipOne, the first privately developed spacecraft to reach sub-orbital space and the first ever civilian astronaut.

Solution
Eric led his team which started with a strategic planning phase for an event that would require press materials, crisis planning and speeches, launch location coordination and media relations, including multiple press conferences, Q&A sessions and one-on-one interviews. To build momentum for the story, Eric’s team provided exclusive test-launch coverage to CNN and the Los Angeles Times in May 2004, which garnered the project a front-page story in the newspaper and substantial network coverage. The media excitement swelled dramatically. In order to handle the influx of media requests, the team designed and created an online web registration site for the June 2004 event as well as established an electronic media list so that interested parties could be quickly updated and informed of pertinent launch information.

Through multiple visits to the Mojave Airport to tour onsite facilities, we were able to coordinate logistics and event staging. The Mojave Airport is located in a town about one-block in length with only four small motels and extremely limited access to internet hook-ups for filing media stories. The team secured several airport facilities to serve as the launch viewing area, media center, the press conference room and individual one-on-one interview rooms. The team was also able to secure perhaps the event’s most important aspect, wireless and broadband connectivity for use by nearly journalists at any given time. This was a crucial component of the media campaign because many journalists would not have been able to immediately file their stories otherwise.

Nearly 600 journalists were credentialed upon check-in for the preview day. Media were provided with their appropriate credentials, drive-on passes, parking information, activity schedules, bios on all relevant parties and background information as to the flight objective and trajectory. The team worked with the client to gain access to media footage including pre-flight activities, take-off, in-flight, landing and pilot exit within two hours of the flight. Previously, this type of footage was unavailable to the vast majority of media. The footage was provided on-site and fed via satellite to media outlets for additional pick up options.

The team also coordinated pre and post launch press conferences with Paul G. Allen and Burt Rutan in order to ensure they were not overshadowed entirely by SpaceShipOne itself. We also staged the SpaceShipOne landing so that the vehicle would be towed directly in front of the media for the ultimate photo opportunity – that of Paul G. Allen and Burt Rutan greeting astronaut Mike Melvill as he emerged from the ship for the first time post flight. Melvill also received his astronaut wings from the Federal Aviation Administration, becoming the first civilian to do so.

Result
From Chile to China, media outlets from around the world reported on the SpaceShipOne launch. Over 300 newspapers from around the world featured the flight, with color photographs on the front page. Most significantly though, would be the interview held by NASA executives the next day with CNN, responding to the impact the launch had on the industry and the world.