Sir Richard Branson’s firm Virgin Galactic will finally send its first paying passenger to space today, bringing a nearly two-decade-long wait to an end.
The ‘Galactic 02’ mission will send a crew of six into orbit – including three tourists – aboard the VSS Unity spaceplane when it blasts off from New Mexico later.
The tourists are retired British Olympian Jon Goodwin, 80, who paid $250,000 (£191,000) for his ticket to space back in 2005.
There’s also Antiguan mother and