Virgin Galactic to launch commercial space flights ‘within months’
Virgin Galactic will be ready for blast off ‘within months’ according to Virgin boss Richard Branson.
Speaking at a United Arab Emirates’ government summit, the British billionaire said the launch is within sight after years of stuttering progress.
"We should be going into space in about three or four months’ time," he said and revealed that US authorities are likely to grant a commercial aviation license within three months.
Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShip 2 recently completed a third successful rocket-powered test flight over the Mojave Desert and the company has sold over 700 tickets for the first commercial flights, at a cost of over $200,000 each.
Sir Richard also said the "ultimate end-game for Virgin Galactic" is to run rocket-powered flights between London and Australia cutting flight times by over 80%.
"Obviously if we could fly to Australia in a couple of hours, that would give us a massive advantage over anybody else" he said, cautiously adding that the reality of point to point Virgin Galactic flights is well over a decade away.
By TravelMole US editor Ray Montgomery
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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