Actually, Virgin announced their smallsat launch system some time ago. Nothing new here other than a confirmation of their earlier plans.
Nitpick: the orbiter's name is spelled "Endeavour", not "Endeavor". However, this is hardly the first time the shuttle's name has suffered this unfortunate typo:
@Alex Carnevale: the language in the Obama space policy paper is no more or less specific about human exploration of Mars than either the current national space exploration policy (aka the "Vision for Space Exploration") or what Sen. McCain is discussing in his space policy statement:
The fact is that human exploration of Mars (assuming that's what you mean by the "Mars Exploration project") is a relatively long-term goal, well beyond the planning horizon of the next administration. There are much bigger near-term space policy issues that require the attention of the next president.
If you actually go read Obama's space policy:
You'll find several mentions of Mars - if that's your thing - like this: "He [Obama] endorses the goal of sending human missions to the Moon by 2020, as a precursor in an orderly progression to missions to more distant destinations, including Mars." if Mars isn't your thing, read the policy anyway: it's incredibly detailed for a niche topic like space, with lots of attention paid to boring-but-important issues like ITAR reform and commercialization.
First, a minor correction: the author's name is Greg Zsidisin, not Zsidisen.
Second: I'd encourage readers here to read the second [www.thespacereview.com] and third [www.thespacereview.com] parts of his essay, which includes some information on what advocacy groups are doing (or not doing, as the case may be) on this subject, and links to some additional online resources.
"Phoenix, an even more badass version of the current Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity"
You're probably thinking of Mars Science Laboratory, scheduled for launch in 2009 [mars.jpl.nasa.gov] . Phoenix, as others have noted, is a static lander. MSL *is* badass, at least for rovers...
