Virgin chief plans space flight for the masses
Space tourism could be the next giant leap for mankind under a plan unveiled today by Virgin boss Richard Branson.
The entrepreneur said he wanted to bring space travel within the reach of the general public.
Branson, famed for his daredevil world-record attempts, launched Virgin Galactic at the Royal Aeronautical Society in central London.
“Today is an historic day – it will bring the dream of space travel for many millions closer to reality.
“I hope with the launch of Virgin Galactic and the building of our fleet of spacecraft that one day children around the world will wonder why we ever thought that space travel was a dream we read about in books.”
Each spacecraft will carry five passengers at a price of £115,000 each, which will include three days of pre-flight training.
The first flight, which will take about two to three hours, is scheduled to leave in 2007-8. Branson said he plans to be on the inaugural flight.
The licensing deal, with Mojave Aerospace Ventures (MAV), which owns the technology, was signed on Saturday morning. Virgin plans to invest up to £60 million in the science project, Branson said.
Virgin’s fleet of spacecraft are modelled on SpaceShipOne, which was designed by aviation legend Burt Rutan.
Mr Rutan’s company, Scaled Composites, has built a spacecraft which reached a height of 62 miles in June. It hit the headlines as the world’s first privately manned space flight.
Mr Rutan said: “Our June space flight was flown with several new technologies that address both the cost and safety of manned space flight.
“These, combined with the lessons learned from our SpaceShipOne research programme, will enable us to develop the finest suborbital operational systems possible.”
SpaceShipOne will take part in the Ansari X Prize flight later this week. The competition was set up to encourage private entrepreneurs to build spaceships.
Virgin expects to create 3,000 astronauts over a five-year period. Flights will leave from a launch-pad in America.
Two businessmen have already become space tourists after paying around €16m for the privilege.
US businessman Dennis Tito became the first in 2001, followed by South African Mark Shuttleworth 12 months later.
