Virgin space flights to take-off ‘within months’
Virgin Galactic will be ready for blast off ‘within months’ according to Virgin boss Richard Branson.
Speaking at a UAE 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.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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