Virgin Galactic wants to launch 1,000 tourists to the edge of space this year

Virgin Galactic wants to offer 1000 customers a flight to the edge of space this year. Interested parties can book from Wednesday. The cost for a 90-minute flight, including multi-day training, is $450,000.

Interested parties must make a deposit of $150,000. The remaining $300,000 must be paid just before the flight takes place. In a press release, Virgin Galactic writes that ticket sales will open to the public on Wednesday. You can register via the company’s website.

The flights offered by the company last about 90 minutes and are operated with the VSS Unity. That spacecraft is mounted under a larger aircraft and is launched from the air to the edge of space at a speed of Mach 3. During the flight, participants experience weightlessness for several minutes and are shown the curvature of the Earth through the seventeen windows. in the spacecraft.

Last July, Virgin Galactic conducted its first fully-manned test flight, with founder Richard Branson aboard. That flight took the five-person crew to an altitude of about 86 kilometers. The company has previously sold tickets for upcoming space flights, but so far that has been sales to a limited group. The sale will be open to everyone from Wednesday. Last year, Virgin Galactic said it already had 600 reservations.

Virgin Galactic expects to welcome 1,000 customers on board this year. The VSS Unity spaceship has room for six people, so that would mean at least 167 flights. The flights for ‘the general public’ should start later this year, but exactly when is not yet known.

All flights are operated from Spaceport America in the US state of New Mexico. Participants get ‘several days’ of preparations for their flight, Virgin Galactic writes. The company will build accommodations there “with world-class amenities” where the participants can stay.

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