Carrying a crew of six individuals, Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic space tourism company will take its first commercial flight.
Scheduled to take place between June 27 and 30, the initial flight for Galactic 01 will carry three members from the Italian air force and the National Research Council of Italy. On this inaugural flight, the crew will conduct microgravity research during the suborbital spaceflight.
Following the flight of Galactic 01, Virgin Galactic is set to send members of the public on Galactic 02 in August. Furthermore, the company is hoping to schedule monthly flights so all who have the means, can make their way into space.
With the initial batch of tickets priced at $200,000 each, Virgin Galactic has sold approximately 800 tickets for its journeys over the past decade. At the moment, the price for a single ticket has ballooned to $450,000 per person.
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Following nearly a decade of waiting for some, they finally will be able to go into space as seats have been assigned for the first space flights.
The privileged few will enjoy a 90-minute experience including five minutes of weightlessness and mesmerizing views of Earth. Passengers will then glide back to Earth and land in the New Mexico desert at Spaceport America.
When the rocket-powered space plane reaches 10 miles above the Earth’s surface, the rocket motor will be ignited to launch the space plane to an altitude of over 50 miles. It is at this point that members on board will cross into the edge of space and achieve weightlessness.
The highly anticipated launch is a first for the company in terms of public space travel, but also in terms of its unique launch method.
Unlike SpaceX and Blue Origin, the Galactic spacecraft takes off from a runway instead of vertical rocket launches.