Virgin Galactic space tourism flights are moving closer to the launch pad.
It announced it will start commercial space flights in late June.
It is nearly two years since its only manned space flight to date.
It went into suborbital space in July 2021, with Sir Richard Branson aboard.
A flight planned for this month will be with four Virgin employees.
This will ‘validate the astronaut experience ahead of the first commercial space tourism flight,’ Virgin said.
It will then start commercial suborbital flights next month.
It will take off from Spaceport America in New Mexico.
“Returning to space is what we have all worked towards,” said Mike Moses, President of Spaceline Missions and Safety.
Virgin Galactic’s progress has been long delayed including after a 2014 fatal accident.
It has sold over 800 tickets priced at more than $200,000.
It posted a larger loss of $159 million in the first quarter.
