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
Former British Olympian Jon Goodwin has become the first paying customer to fly to space aboard a flight chartered by Sir Richard Branson’s firm Virgin Galactic.
Goodwin, 80 – who has been living with Parkinson’s disease for almost a decade and spent $250,000 for a ticket – said farewells to his family before boarding the firm’s ‘spaceplane’ in New Mexico.
Goodwin was joined by Antiguan mother and daughter duo Keisha Schahaff, 46, and Anastatia Mayers, 18, who won free tickets
Virgin Galactic will send its first fee-paying civilian to the edge of space on Thursday.
The company will live stream the flight from launch to landing and below you can find out how to watch.
A flight with Virgin Galactic starts and finishes at Spaceport America in New Mexico and lasts about 70 minutes. The trip begins with the passengers traveling aboard the VSS Unity plane, which itself is carried to 50,000 feet by another aircraft, VMS Eve.
Virgin Galactic announced today that Chamath Palihapitiya, whose SPAC took the space tourism company public three years ago, has stepped down as its chairman. It’s a low-key and sudden departure for the outspoken financier, and another sign of the bad times that have hit the market for blank-check funds.
It’s unclear why Palihapitiya is leaving Virgin Galactic, apart from the company saying he will “focus on other public company board commitments.” But it’s worth noting that
