In travel news for June 22, 2023 we talk about Virgin Galactic finally starting to take travelers into space.
In a groundbreaking announcement, Virgin Galactic, the Space Tourism venture, declared that it will begin conducting monthly commercial flights to the edge of space for ticket holders starting in August. The announcement has marked a new era in space travel, with civilian space exploration now becoming a tangible reality.
The launch pad for this initiative is set to open following a research flight scheduled for the end of June. In this mission, Virgin Galactic will be accompanying a team of specialists from the Italian Air Force and the National Research Centre of Italy, with the primary objective of conducting microgravity research. This window of research flight is planned to initiate on June 27 and span over the next three days, with the schedule depending upon the weather conditions.
After this preliminary mission, individuals who have waited patiently for over a decade to experience the thrill of space travel are expected to finally have their chance. Virgin Galactic revealed that the first of these flights is set to commence in early August, with monthly flights to follow thereafter.
Michael Colglazier, the Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Galactic, stated that this thrilling chapter for the company has been fueled by innovation, determination, and an unwavering commitment to provide an unmatched and transformative customer experience.
The company's journey towards enabling commercial space travel has been long and strenuous. After years of meticulous work, Virgin Galactic finally obtained approval from the federal government in 2021. They carried out their final test flight successfully in May of that year.
When discussing the mechanics of the flight, after reaching an altitude of nearly 50,000 feet, Virgin Galactic's space plane is released from a carrier aircraft and ignites its rocket motor after a brief drop. Upon reaching space, the plane switches off, offering passengers an experience of silence, weightlessness, and a breathtaking aerial view of Earth. The spacecraft then smoothly glides back to the runway at Spaceport America, located in the New Mexico desert.
Over the past decade, Virgin Galactic has sold approximately 800 tickets, with the first batch fetching a price of $200,000 each. Currently, each ticket is priced at $450,000. Since 2006, the company has been a preferred supplier with Virtuoso, a network of Luxury Travel agencies.
Virgin Galactic's high-profile test flight in July 2021 garnered global attention when the company's founder, Richard Branson, soared into space, beating fellow billionaires and space enthusiasts, Jeff Bezos of Amazon and his space company Blue Origin. This event kick-started a new chapter in Space Tourism, with Bezos launching his own space voyage from West Texas just nine days later.
With this monumental initiative, Virgin Galactic is set to pioneer a new chapter in Space Tourism, allowing individuals to experience the awe-inspiring vistas of space and weightlessness, previously accessible only to astronauts. The space tourism venture is indeed bringing the stars closer to us, making space exploration a more democratized and accessible experience.
