Virgin Galactic Confident Of Space Tourism Future

At $200,000 a ticket it isn’t cheap but it is definitely out of this world and you get a great view. Virgin Galactic’s plans to be the first space tourism business really took off after SpaceShipOne won the Ansari X-Prize back in 2004. Now, 529 “astronauts” (around 85 flights worth) have booked their tickets to go up in SpaceShipTwo (SS2), a six-seat (plus two pilots) all-composite ship of novel design–as can be seen here in the Farnborough airshow static park.

Although this is a replica, the pivoting wings that are the key design feature for achieving re-entry without titanium or ablative shielding is evident. The actual vehicle has been built by The Spaceship Company, a joint venture between Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites, based in Mojave, California. Launches will take place from the town of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, where Virgin Galactic has established “Spaceport America.”

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