Virgin Galactic’s tourism spaceship sits on the runway after climbing more than 50 miles high above California’s Mojave Desert on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018. The rocket ship reached an altitude of 51 miles (82 kilometers) before beginning its gliding descent, said mission official Enrico Palermo. The craft landed on a runway minutes later. (AP Photo/John Antczak)
Virgin Galactic
(New York, New York)—Richard Branson’s space venture, Virgin Galactic, is preparing for its first commercial space journey. Scheduled to take off no earlier than June 29 from New Mexico’s Spaceport America, the maiden commercial flight— dubbed Galactic 01— will include four passengers: three Italians and a Virgin Galactic instructor. The 90-minute space trip, besides offering the thrill of space travel, will involve conducting 13 experiments in areas like fluid dynamics and sustainable medical materials. Four pilots will oversee the operation, dividing their duties between the carrier plane VMS Eve and the SpaceShipTwo spacecraft VSS Unity. The ticket price is jaw dropping— it costs a whopping $450,000 for the ride.
Virgin Galactic has also announced plans for the “Delta-class” space planes, aiming for weekly space flights by 2026, which was announced just a week after the Titanic sub tragedy.
