Cut price space tourism
Contributors are not employed, compensated or governed by TD, opinions and statements are from the contributor directly
A California company is challenging Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic for a slice of the nascent space tourism market by offering budget rocket trips to the edge of space for half the price of its British rival.
The Telegraph newspaper said that XCOR Aerospace has 20 people who have already bought tickets to fly aboard its private, two-seater Lynx rocket ship about 37 miles (59.5km) above the Earth.
The company is offering the trips for US$95,000, about half the US$200,000 Virgin Galactic will charge passengers to ride aboard its eight-seater craft some 62 miles above the Earth.
Announcing the sub-orbital service, XCOR was quoted saying that its first passenger would be Per Wimmer, a Danish adventurer and investment banker based in London who is also an investor in the aerospace company.
According to the release, he hoped his flight would take place in 2011, after a series of test flights in 2010. The craft holds just one passenger and its pilot.
Virgin Galactic’s craft, dubbed SpaceShipTwo, hopes to begin test flights in 2009 or 2010.
Comments are closed.