And then going to launch these every month
Virgin Galactic has announced that it will launch its first commercial mission, Galactic 01, at the end of this month. Space tourists will start flying between June 27 and 30.
Three people from the Italian Air Force and the National Research Council will take part in this mission. Among other things, they will conduct some scientific research in microgravity. The Galactic 02 mission, which will launch in early August, will carry a completely private crew. In the future, the company plans to launch such flights every month.
Virgin Galactic launches first commercial mission in two weeks
Of course, this cannot be called full-fledged space tourism, since the VMS Eve aircraft rises to a height of about 15 km, and the VMS Unity, which then undocks, rises to a height of about 80 km. The Karman Line (100 km above the earth), which is most often associated with the beginning of outer space, the Virgin Galactic device does not cross. In this case, passengers are in zero gravity for only a few minutes, and the flight itself does not last long. However, it is worth noting that the US Air Force considers a height of 50 miles, or about 80.5 km, to be the limit of space.
At this stage, the ticket price for such an attraction is $450,000.
