The space tourism company Virgin Galactic is set to begin its first commercial spaceflights in June.
The flights will come shortly after the company’s first flight following a two-year hiatus, which is expected to take place in late May. The May test flight, Unity 25, will be the 25th flight and fifth spaceflight undertaken by the company, and it will serve as one last test to prepare for commercial operations.
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“Unity 25 is the final assessment of the full spaceflight system and astronaut experience before commercial service opens in late June,” the company wrote in a Monday press release.
For years, people have been able to buy tickets for upcoming flights. The result is a huge backlog, Virgin Galactic Spokesman Jeff Michaels told the Washington Examiner. He said that the company has sold about 800 tickets.
The first tickets will be used sometime in late June if things go according to plan, and Michaels is confident they will.
“I can’t foresee any complications, nor can our president, Michael Colglazier,” Michaels said. “But weather could, I suppose, cause a delay. But we’re currently all set for late June.”
Each commercial flight can carry four passengers. Each flight will last about 90 minutes. The flight begins when the shuttle, attached to a plane, takes off from a runway and is flown to an altitude of 50,000 feet. The shuttle then detaches from the “mothership,” and the rocket engine ignites, sending it into space at nearly 3 1/2 times the speed of sound.
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After 60 seconds, passengers can unbuckle and experience zero gravity as the shuttle briefly floats in space. The craft then will glide back down to Earth and land on the runway it took off from.
Each ticket is priced at $450,000. Tickets have been on sale since 2005, AFP reported.
