Buster Hyman
11th Jun 2004, 06:19
Branson aims for the stars
13:41 AEST Fri Jun 11 2004
Virgin tycoon Sir Richard Branson is hoping to offer adventurous tourists the chance to take a flight into space, it was reported.
Sir Richard said he wanted to bring "space tourism" to the masses by pricing the flights at affordable levels.
He told the Guardian Unlimited website that Virgin was now investing money in the futuristic science-fiction style project.
"All will be revealed over the next two or three weeks but, in a general sense, space is the ultimate frontier - and something we at Virgin have dearly wanted to do is to bring space tourism one day to the masses," he said.
The entrepreneur, famed for his love of daredevil world record attempts, said he hoped to be aboard the first tourist flight into space.
Sir Richard's official announcement of his space flight aspirations could coincide with the test flight on June 21 of SpaceShipOne.
The pioneering rocket-propelled space vehicle will be released from a carrier craft at an altitude of 15,000m and will fire its rockets to climb to a height of 100km before falling back into the atmosphere and back to Earth.
Sir Richard refused to reveal whether his space tourism plan would involve SpaceShipOne.
Two mega-rich businessmen have already become space tourists after paying a fee of around $US20 million ($A28 million) for the privilege.
American businessman Dennis Tito became the first in 2001, followed by South African Mark Shuttleworth, 12 months later.
İAAP 2004
13:41 AEST Fri Jun 11 2004
Virgin tycoon Sir Richard Branson is hoping to offer adventurous tourists the chance to take a flight into space, it was reported.
Sir Richard said he wanted to bring "space tourism" to the masses by pricing the flights at affordable levels.
He told the Guardian Unlimited website that Virgin was now investing money in the futuristic science-fiction style project.
"All will be revealed over the next two or three weeks but, in a general sense, space is the ultimate frontier - and something we at Virgin have dearly wanted to do is to bring space tourism one day to the masses," he said.
The entrepreneur, famed for his love of daredevil world record attempts, said he hoped to be aboard the first tourist flight into space.
Sir Richard's official announcement of his space flight aspirations could coincide with the test flight on June 21 of SpaceShipOne.
The pioneering rocket-propelled space vehicle will be released from a carrier craft at an altitude of 15,000m and will fire its rockets to climb to a height of 100km before falling back into the atmosphere and back to Earth.
Sir Richard refused to reveal whether his space tourism plan would involve SpaceShipOne.
Two mega-rich businessmen have already become space tourists after paying a fee of around $US20 million ($A28 million) for the privilege.
American businessman Dennis Tito became the first in 2001, followed by South African Mark Shuttleworth, 12 months later.
İAAP 2004