Virgin Galactic: The pioneering adventure into space tourism

Virgin Galactic test flight - photo courtesy of Virgin Galactic, MarsScientific.com and Clay Center Observatory

The Virgin Galactic company is a pioneering enterprise which is run by Virgin Group. The company plans to be the first company able to enter the space tourism market and carry tourists into space. Customers will be transported beyond the official line of the atmosphere to experience weightlessness and view the Earth from space.

Virgin Galactic as a company is going to be running an experience where tourists can pay for the experience of being in space. The company has designed its own fleet of new spacecraft and will be running them from purpose built spaceports the first of which will be in New Mexico USA.

Virgin’s spacecraft include the Spaceship two, the White Knight two and the Launcher one. The White Knight carries a payload which can be a satellite launching craft or a Spaceship two carrying tourists, toward the end of the atmosphere where the ship or launcher can release and fire their rockets into the atmosphere.