Virgin starts selling space tourism packages that cost R$ 2 million

Richard Branson billionaire and owner of the Virgin conglomerate, announced, in a video posted on Twitter, the start of operations of the Virgin Galactic spacecraft, whose last test was carried out in May this year and the company’s idea is to promote space tourism.

According to the information released, the first mission of the Galactic stellar vehicle, number 01, will take place between June 27th and 30th, with the second flight (number 02) scheduled for the beginning of August this year. .

“Virgin Galactic’s team and vehicles are ready to take the first customers into space, having successfully completed the Unity 25 spaceflight and routine analysis and vehicle inspections,” reads an excerpt from the statement.

The crew will consist of three members of the Air Force and the National Research Council of Italy to conduct research in a microgravity environment, demonstrating what Virgin calls the potential of its “suborbital scientific laboratory”.

“We are launching the first commercial space line to Earth. This exciting next chapter for Virgin Galactic has been driven by innovation, determination and commitment to delivering a truly transformative experience,” said Michael Colglazier, the company’s CEO.

.@VirginGalactic announces the start of commercial spaceflight service with #galactic01 flight this month. A huge well done to the team, so excited for our astronauts to inspire more people to look at the stars. https://t.co/MDJjwKQj74 pic.twitter.com/9NtxSdDJMo

— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) June 15, 2023

What are suborbital flights?

There is a boundary between Earth and space. For NASA, the United States Space Agency, the limit is reached at 80 km, but there are also agencies that consider the Kármán Line, this at 100 km in altitude, defined by the physicist Theodore von Kármán.

In 2021, Galactic’s inaugural flight, which was attended by Branson, reached a height of 86 km – that is, 6 km above the planet’s threshold, using NASA’s criteria.

At the height of activity, the atmosphere is practically zero and the so-called zero gravity occurs, when the terrestrial attraction force ceases to act, allowing bodies to levitate.

However, in this type of flight, the feeling of being a superhero is fleeting and lasts only a few minutes, unlike what would happen in a trip at a higher height, where the phenomenon would be constant and would involve the use of sophisticated space suits.

future activity

Space tourism, such as that promoted by Virgin, inaugurates the so-called “new space age”, being one more among many other initiatives by companies that want to expand the human presence in outer space, including the creation of colonies on Mars, as in the plans cited by SpaceX, of the also billionaire Elon Musk .

For those interested in participating in the journey above the earthly environment, a word of warning: although the company does not reveal to the market the exact prices of each ticket, in 2021, each ticket was purchased for the low sum of US$ 450 thousand (about R$ 2 million, at current exchange rates), according to Virgin Galactic, which already has around 100 packages sold.