Virgin Galactic puts tickets on sale to travel to space
Currently, a ticket to go to space costs $450,000, for which an initial deposit of $150,000 must be given.
In 2004, businessman Richard Branson created Virgin Galactic, within the Virgin Group conglomerate of companies.
Virgin Galactic aims to carry out orbital and manned suborbital space launches for smaller satellites.
In the search to offer "space tourism", the company announced on February 15 the sale of tickets to space for the general public.
How much do tickets cost to go to space?
Currently a ticket to go to space has a cost of 450,000 dollars, for which an initial deposit of 150,000 dollars must be given.
Although the sale was reopened last week, during the month of November 2021 they sold 100 tickets to people previously registered on a waiting list.
Additionally, between 2005 and 2014, Virgin Galactic sold 600 tickets at a price ranging between 200,000 and 250,000 dollars.
On the other hand, in 2021 the company raffled two tickets among those who made donations in favor of the Space For Humanity organization. With this action they managed to raise 1.7 million dollars, thanks to the contribution of 165 thousand people.
The winner turned out to be Keisha Schahaff, a 44-year-old woman from Antigua and Barbuda, who donated 450 thousand dollars and will enjoy her prize in the company of her 17-year-old daughter.
The list of people who have purchased tickets includes celebrities like Angelina Jolie, Lady Gaga, Tom Hanks, Justin Bieber, and even tycoon Elon Musk.
Space travels
In the month of July of the year 2021, Richard Branson himself made the first trip to space, aboard the SpaceShipTwo spacecraft.
On that occasion he was accompanied by three employees of Virgin Galactic, Colin Bennett, Beth Moses and Siricha Bandla, and the pilots Michael Masucci and Dave Mackay.
The company has announced that they expect to sell a thousand tickets and make their first trips to the general public at the end of 2022.
In this sense, the takeoff would take place from the state of New Mexico in the United States and would last 90 minutes, including ascent and descent times.
During the trip, the plane would be attached to a "mothership" while reaching between 12,000 and 15,000 meters in height. SpaceShipTwo would then be released and propelled by its rocket motor, reaching more than 80 kilometers above the earth.
During the space voyage, the crew will be able to enjoy unique views of the earth and experience weightlessness.