By: Mark Phillips, Heather Cumberledge Posted at 6:15 PM, Jun 25, 2020 . Arizona Republic.
Mark Kelly, the former NASA astronaut who commanded the second-to-last space shuttle mission and spent 25 years in the Navy, readily acknowledges the … Two businesses and a … Arizona’s Republican governor, Doug Ducey, appointed her to fill the seat of the late Sen. John McCain, another legendary fighter pilot who spent five years as a POW in North Vietnam, then went on to win two terms in the House, six in the Senate and his party’s nomination for president in 2008.World View originally began operating in 2013 as a space tourism start-up with plans to charge $75,000 per passenger on flights to near outer-space in a capsule attached to a huge helium balloon. The investments have been made through Mount McKinley Investment Limited, a company controlled by Tencent. "Records show Kelly's campaign has received at least $4,000 from World View employees and $5,000 from a Tencent executive.Democratic Senate candidate Mark Kelly has cast himself as a successful astronaut-turned-entrepreneur who has made millions from good investments and generous speaking fees.By February 2019, the company had fewer than 100 employees after laying off 10 of them. To date, there has not arisen any conflicts between Kelly, Tencent, or the Chinese Government that could impact U.S. space technology or foreign policy.The current NRSC ad, which is running on local television and social media, focuses on her Democratic opponent, Mark Kelly, and his business ties with China.The ad further suggests Kelly’s financial gains from Chinese investments make him willing to make excuses for China’s actions against the U.S. and the world.PHOENIX — The National Republican Senatorial Committee is investing $33 million in ads for Republican candidates in seven states; Michigan, Colorado, Iowa, Maine, Montana, North Carolina and Arizona.It suggests Tencent, a Chinese tech company, which invested in World View Enterprises, a Tucson-based commercial space exploration venture Kelly helped create in 2014, uses its connections with World View and other U.S. companies to steal U.S. Space technology. He supports stronger federal background checks and more red-flag laws. It suggests Tencent, a … No one was hurt in the accident, but Raytheon, which is nearby, informed its employees about a "substantial explosion" at World View that triggered alarms at Raytheon. And like other tech companies in China, it has close working ties to the ruling Communist Party in Beijing.In January 2016, the Pima County Board of Supervisors approved a $14.5 million plan to finance the construction of a 120,000-square-foot building for World View on 28 acres of county land.The event had drawn attention from the New York Times, in part because its payload included chicken sandwiches from KFC, which had adopted a space-themed ad campaign for the sandwich.The company's officials have noted Tencent as an investor since at least 2014.