JAKARTA - The space travel company Virgin Galactic has just opened reservations for anyone who wants to buy a spacecraft ticket by riding SpaceShipTwo.
Virgin Galactic set a price of 450,000 US dollars or equivalent to Rp. 6.4 billion per seat. The announcement comes after company owner, tycoon Richard Branson successfully flew to the edge of space on July 11, in his space tourism vehicle that can carry four passengers up to 80 km for several minutes without weight on the Unity 22 mission.
"As we strive to bring the wonders of outer space to a vast global population, we are excited to open doors to new industry and consumer experiences," said Virgin Galactic.
The company said it will have three consumer offerings: single-seat, multi-seat for couples, friends and family, as well as full ticket purchases. Tickets will be offered first to people in the Spacefarer Community. According to Virgin Galactic's vice president of communications, Aleanna Crane about 1,000 people had already given cash for an advance deposit.
According to a CNN International report, Virgin Galactic also previously announced that it would raffle two seats on SpaceShipTwo to people who donate to Space For Humanity, a non-profit organization with the goal of helping democratize space.
In addition, the company also revealed that 125,000 people from more than 190 countries had donated. Initially, Virgin Galactic sold space travel tickets for around $200,000 per seat, but changed ticket prices again after a fatal crash during a test flight in 2014.
Since then, the company has tweaked the plane's design, partnered with a new manufacturing company, and tested the new SpaceShipTwo on four successful flights that have reached the edge of space, including Branson, which took off last month. After the success, Virgin Galactic confirmed it was ready to start commercial operations in 2022 from Spaceport America in New Mexico.
"In the second quarter, we made significant progress towards commencing commercial services in 2022. We also received FAA approval to expand our existing launch license, marking the first time the FAA has licensed Spaceline to fly customers into space," said Virgin Galactic chief executive Michael. Colglazier.
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