Many of us dream about going to space and, while it’s easier now than ever thanks to private space companies, it’s still only really an option for those with unfathomable wealth.
If you are in that top 1% lucky you because Virgin Galactic has officially made tickets to outer space available to the general public.
The Virgin Galactic flights will operate out of the company’s long-serving spaceport near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.
Under the current setup, passengers will be carried in a small rocket-powered vehicle (SpaceShipTwo) attached to a larger launch aircraft (at the moment, the VMS Eve), which takes passengers up to 15,000 m (49,000 ft) before detaching it.
After that point, the SpaceShipTwo’s engine fires, accelerating the rocket-powered spaceplane to supersonic speeds within eight seconds.
After a 70 second burn, the engine cuts out and it glides up to its maximum altitude of 89.9 km (about 55.9 miles) before re-entering the atmosphere and gliding back down.
Those on board will also get to experience zero gravity during the trip.
Those who reserve a ticket will also get access to the Future Astronaut membership community, a service that Virgin Galactic claims is “designed and curated to bring inspiration, excitement, and adventure from the time of ticket purchase to spaceflight and beyond”.
Members of the community “will enjoy access to money-can’t-buy experiences, events, trips and space-readiness activities while they await their spaceflight”.
“At Virgin Galactic, we believe that space is transformational,” Virgin Galactic’s CEO Michael Colglazier said.
“We plan to have our first 1,000 customers on board at the start of commercial service later this year, providing an incredibly strong foundation as we begin regular operations and scale our fleet,” he said.
How much will you need to secure one of these trips of a lifetime?
Well, you’ll need to fork out a cool $450,000; $150,000 of which as an upfront deposit and the rest to be paid before take off.
You also might be waiting around for a while.
There’s a big backlog of flights that have already been paid for, with around 600 customers still waiting for a Virgin Galactic flight.
Some flights were reportedly reserved almost a decade ago.
Flights are also currently on pause until the end of 2022 due to a manufacturing defect that was found in a company vehicle.
Will the wait be worth it? For those who are able to afford to buy a ride on a flight to the edge of space, it probably will be.
