Virgin blasts off
Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson will today unveil a craft that could soon carry tourists on an out-of-this-world trip into space.
Branson will unveil Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo (SS2), an aircraft that can carry six passengers and two pilots on a trip into the unknown galaxy, at $215,000 a pop.
The Mojave desert, between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, will stage the roll-out of the aircraft, with test flights due to begin next year and commercial flights between 2011 and 2012.
Virgin Galactic says about 300 adventurers from around the world have paid a total of $43 million in deposits to guarantee spots on the carbon composite wonder machine.