Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic offers space flights at prices starting at $ 450,000 per space in its rocket, the Associated Press reported on Friday. British billionaire recently made a successful flight to the border with space.
The president of the space company, Michael Colglazier, said that the offer is a response to the growing interest in space flight, which is related to the latest developments in the industry.
The cosmic race of billionaires
On July 11, Virgin Galactic owner Richard Branson made a successful flight to the border with space. VSS Unity soared 86 km above the desert in the US state of New Mexico. During the flight, the billionaire spent about four minutes weightless.
Nine days after this mission, an American billionaire Jeff Bezos and his three companions made a similar flight on board his company’s New Shepard ship, Blue Origin.
Another participant in the billionaires race, Elon Musk, is also going to take a space journey. His company, SpaceX, plans a commercial flight into the Moon’s orbit in 2023, and in September this year – the first fully civilian manned flight to orbit around the Earth.
The next flight of Branson’s ship, planned for the end of September, is to take place in cooperation with the Italian air force.
Main photo source: Virgin Galactic