Virgin Galactic has taken its first tourists on a sub-orbital spaceflight after years of delays, including one passenger who bought his ticket 18 years ago and a mother-daughter duo from the Caribbean.
The flight window opened on this (Thursday) morning at Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert for a ride to near the edge of space.
With the flight a resounding success, Richard Branson’s company will now look to offer monthly trips to customers on its winged space plane, joining Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the space tourism business.
Virgin Galactic passenger Jon Goodwin, who was among the first to buy a ticket in 2005, said he had faith that he would someday make the trip.
The 80-year-old British Olympian — he competed in canoeing in 1972 — has Parkinson’s disease and wants to be an inspiration to others.
“I hope it shows them that these obstacles can be the start rather than the end to new adventures,” he said in a statement.
Goodwin has said he paid $200,000 for his ticket. The cost is now $450,000.
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