BILLIONAIRE Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic has revealed when it will begin selling space travel tickets to the general public.
The aerospace firm announced Tuesday that it will re-open sales for upcoming flights from February 16.
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The tickets are priced at $450,000 (£330,000) each, including an initial deposit of $150,000 (£110,000).
“We plan to have our first 1,000 customers on board at the start of commercial service later this year,” Virgin Galactic Chief Executive Officer Michael Colglazier said in a statement.
Virgin Galactic has launched four spaceflights so far but has yet to take up any paying customers.
Its vehicle, called VSS Unity, soars into the air from New Mexico strapped to a carrier aircraft before detaching and blasting 50 miles above Earth.
Up to six passengers experience four minutes of weightlessness before Unity turns around and glides back to Earth.
Previously, only Virgin Galactic staff and A-list celebs have been able to book a spot on one of its 2,300 mph rocket planes.
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Celebs patiently waiting their turn include Tom Hanks, Leonardo DiCaprio, Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga.
Those interested in spaceflight reservations can visit Virgin Galactic’s website to begin the application process.
Reservations include access to the firm’s Future Astronaut community, which will provide members access to events ahead of their trip.
Virgin Galactic was founded in 2004 with the aim of taking paying tourists to space within three years but has been hampered by years of delays.
A fatal crash during a test flight in 2014 grounded Virgin Galactic’s fleet for two years while it worked on tightening up safety protocols.
It has now sent up four spaceflights, including one with Sir Richard onboard in July 2021.
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Footage of the billionaire released at the time showed him floating around Unity’s cabin in zero-gravity and gazing out of its enormous windows.
The billionaire said the view of Earth was “more beautiful” than he had imagined.
He told The Sun following the flight: “I’ve been dreaming about this since I was a child and what surprised me was that it was more extreme than I’d dreamt.
“The ride up was extreme, but it should be – a ride to space always is.
“Going from nought to three Mach [three times the speed of sound] in eight seconds is extreme. The noise and absolute silence as one enters space is, too.”
Sir Richard added: “Looking out of the window, I realised that our Earth is more beautiful than I’d imagined. It was just stunning.”
A handful of companies including Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin are striving to make space tourism a reality, and some have already launched civilian missions.
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In other news, a British woman has told of her horror after scammers used photos of a “silver fox” politician to trick her out of £80,000.
Norfolk County Council is suing Apple over what it says was misleading information about iPhone sales.
The creators of a chilling new horror game say that the title is so disturbing they’ve been forced to censor it on PlayStation.
And, Apple has announced updates to AirTags following claims that the coin-sized tracking devices are being used to stalk people.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
