The space tourism company Virgin Galactic announced this Tuesday (15) that it has opened to the general public the possibility of buying a ticket for US$ 450 thousand to spend a few minutes in space.
The first flights are scheduled for the end of 2022, as the company founded by billionaire Richard Branson had previously announced.
Tickets have been on sale since August, but reserved for travelers registered on a waiting list. In November, Virgin Galactic announced that it had sold 100 tickets for that price of $450,000.
These are in addition to the 600 sold between 2005 and 2014 for a lower price – between $200,000 and $250,000.
The possibility of registering for the trip will be open to everyone starting this Wednesday (16), with a deposit of US$ 150,000, Virgin Galactic said in a statement.
The trip, with about 90 minutes in total, counting the duration of the ascent, would start with a lift off from Spaceport America space base in the New Mexico desert, after “several days” of training.
The company uses a huge carrier plane that takes off from a conventional runway, and then releases a spacecraft that resembles a large private jet. It runs its engine until it exceeds 80 km of altitude and then returns gliding.
Once in the sky, passengers can let go of their seats to experience a few minutes of zero gravity and admire the earth’s curvature through the windows.
Virgin Galactic is currently carrying out modifications to the carrier plane and spacecraft aimed at improving the engines’ behavior and their ability to fly more frequently. This period, which began in October, should last between nine and ten months, a company spokesman told AFP at the time.
The actual start of commercial activities is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2022, the company announced in November.
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