Slightly more than 600 people from 60 countries have paid $250,000 for 90-minute rides into space. To keep the waiting list reasonable, Virgin has stopped taking reservations until commercial flights begin.
As the Virgin fleet grows, so will its cadre of pilots and flight schedule. Spacecraft will depart not quite daily but “certainly very frequently,” said Attenborough.
For now, Virgin remains focused on finishing final flight preparations. The carrier aircraft VMS Eve relocated from California to New Mexico on Aug. 12 and has begun readiness flights. Testing includes air traffic control communications and maneuvers that simulate how the aircraft will drop the attached VSS Unity spaceship at almost 50,000 feet. Unlike Virgin’s previous flights in the military airspace above the Mojave Desert, the New Mexico flights will operate in part above commercial air traffic, requiring more airspace coordination with Federal Aviation Administration controllers.
Two additional spaceships are in production at Virgin’s Mojave, California, facility, with plans for a fleet of five aircraft and two carriers.
Human workers are also on the move. Virgin Galactic’s transplanted workforce, mostly from California, is about 90 strong now with an additional 50 to 60 still to come. Their arrival represents a resurrection of New Mexico’s $200 million investment in the endeavor, one that has garnered no shortage of derisive assessments. Each setback—such as the fatal 2014 crash of a Virgin Galactic spaceship or SpaceX’s decision not to use the site—signaled the likely failure of the state’s desert adventure. Local politicians were quick to express their relief in public.
Virgin Galactic’s progress has become integral to economic development for the state, said New Mexico Lieutenant Governor Howie Morales, who participated in the event Thursday.
“New Mexico is aiming for the stars,” Morales said on Twitter.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.