Recent Virgin Galactic news has the company making progress in its space tourism efforts.
A test flight from Virgin Galactic of its Unity SpaceShipTwo rocket saw the vehicle reach of height of 51.4 miles. This has the craft reaching high enough for its two pilots to be officially considered astronauts. It also shows that the company is pushing forward with its tourism plans.
The idea is that Virgin Galactic will use its rockets to send tourists to the edge of the atmosphere. It plans to reuse the same ships multiple times, which recent tests have shown is going well for the company.
A trip to the edge of the Earth’s atmosphere won’t be cheap. Anyone hoping for low prices will be disappointed to learn that a single ticket will cost customers $250,000. That may seem like a lot, but the company notes that there are already more than 600 passengers hoping to take trips in its Unity rocket.
The Virgin Galactic news also includes similar plans from Virgin Group founder Richard Branson. Branson says that he also plans to take a flight to space, but only after the company has a safe ship that can reach 264,000 feet, reports CNBC.
“Incremental flight test programs are by definition open-ended and, to a great extent, each test depends on the data from the test that precedes it,” Virgin Galactic told CNNBusiness. “There is no guarantee that everything will work perfectly first time and, like all programs seeking to take bold steps, we will inevitably have times when things don’t go as planned.”
As of this writing, William White did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
