Virgin Galactic takes its first tourists to the edge of space

Virgin Galactic brought its first tourists to the edge of space on Thursday, including a former British Olympian who bought his ticket 18 years ago and a mother-daughter duo from the Caribbean.

After a brief flight in which the passengers enjoyed a few minutes of weightlessness, the space plane glided back to the runway of Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert.

Family and friends watching from below cheered as the spacecraft’s rocket motor fired, detaching itself from the plane that had carried it. The rocket reached about 88 kilometers (55 miles) in height.

This first private client flight had been delayed for years; its success means Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic can now start offering monthly trips, joining Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the space tourism business.

“That was by far the most amazing thing I’ve ever done in my life.” passenger Jon Goodwin told the crowd after his flight.

Goodwin, who was among the first to buy a ticket in 2005, said he had faith that one day he would make the trip. The 80-year-old former athlete – who competed in canoeing at the 1972 Olympics – suffers from Parkinson’s disease and wants to inspire others.

“I hope it shows them that these obstacles can be the beginning and not the end of new adventures”, he said in a statement.

Tickets were priced at $200,000 when Goodwin signed up. Now they cost $450,000.

He was accompanied by the winner of the raffle, Keisha Schahaff, 46, a fitness coach from Antigua, and her daughter, Anastatia Mayers, 18, a student at the Scottish University of Aberdeen. Also on board the ship were two company pilots and the company’s astronaut trainer.

It was Virgin Galactic’s seventh trip to space since 2018, but the first with a passenger who purchased a ticket. Branson, the company’s founder, came aboard for the first fully crewed voyage in 2021. Italian military and government investigators took to the air in June on the first commercial flight. About 800 people are currently on Virgin Galactic’s waiting list, according to the company.

Virgin Galactic’s rocket is launched from an airplane, not the ground, and requires two pilots in the cockpit. Once the mother ship reaches about 15 kilometers (50,000 feet) in altitude, the space plane lets go and fires its rocket engine for the final push to just over 80 kilometers (50 miles) in the air. Passengers can disengage from their seats, float in the cabin for a few minutes and enjoy panoramic views of Earth, before the space plane glides back home and lands on a runway.

Instead, the SpaceX and Blue Origin capsules are fully automated and descend by parachute.

Source: AP