Virgin Galactic Successfully Launches First Tourists to Space

Virgin Galactic owned by billionaire and naturalised British Virgin Islander Richard Branson achieved a milestone on Thursday sending its first group of tourists to the edge of space.

Passengers on the private space flight included former British Olympian Jon Goodwin, who had purchased his ticket 18 years ago, and a mother-daughter duo from Antigua Keisha Schahaff and Anastatia Mayers.

The rocket ship’s portion of the flight lasted approximately 15 minutes, reaching a height of 55 miles (88 kilometers).

Passengers experienced minutes of weightlessness before gliding back to a runway landing at Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert. This successful private customer flight signifies that Virgin Galactic can now begin offering monthly rides, joining the likes of Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the space tourism industry.

For Jon Goodwin, 80, who had competed in canoeing in the 1972 Olympics, the experience was nothing short of awe-inspiring. Goodwin had been one of the earliest ticket buyers in 2005 and had worried that his diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease would hinder his chances of going to space. However, he has since climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and cycled downhill, hoping to inspire others with Parkinson’s and other illnesses to pursue their dreams.

Ticket prices have increased from $200,000 when Goodwin purchased his ticket to the current cost of $450,000. Joining him on the flight were Keisha Schahaff, a health coach from Antigua, who won a sweepstakes, and her daughter Anastatia Mayers, an 18-year-old student at Scotland’s University of Aberdeen. The mother-daughter duo celebrated their return with high-fives and pumped fists, while expressing their overwhelming joy and gratitude.

Notably, this spaceflight marked the first time women outnumbered men, with four women and two men on board, including the company’s astronaut trainer and one of the pilots.

Although this was Virgin Galactic’s seventh trip to space since 2018, it was the first with a paying customer. Richard Branson had previously joined the first full-size crew ride in 2021, and in June, Italian military and government researchers were the first commercial passengers. Currently, approximately 800 individuals are on Virgin Galactic’s waiting list.

While Virgin Galactic’s rocket ship is launched from a plane, SpaceX and Blue Origin utilize fully automated capsules that parachute back down. Blue Origin, based in West Texas, is currently on hold following a rocket crash last fall, but it has successfully launched 31 people thus far. On the other hand, SpaceX, with its ability to transport customers all the way to orbit, charges a significantly higher price, often in the tens of millions of dollars per seat. It has already completed three private crew missions and has been relied upon by NASA to transport astronauts to the International Space Station since 2020.

Despite the risks involved, as exemplified by the recent submersible implosion and the tragic spaceflight accidents in the past, the allure of space travel continues to attract adventurous individuals. Virgin Galactic itself experienced a tragedy in 2014 when its rocket plane broke apart during a test flight, resulting in the loss of one pilot. However, the desire to venture into space remains strong, with space tourists lining up since the first orbit by a civilian in 2001 alongside the Russians.

Branson, who observed Thursday’s flight from a party in Antigua, celebrated the new space travelers and welcomed them to the club.