Virgin Galactic owner Richard Branson says his company might soon be ready to take civilians into space.
"We have a fantastic team, and I'm not going to say any dates … but we're on the verge," Branson said of his plans to transport civilians on Virgin Galactic.
Branson made the comments on a webcast commemorating the 10-year anniversary of the Ansari X Prize victory. The legendary SpaceShipOne spacecraft became the first spacecraft not operated by a government team to leave Earth's atmosphere. The prize was part of the motivation; the Burt Rutan-designed SpaceShipOne made it into the history books, but it also won a $10 million award.
Rutan is also known for designing the Voyager plane, which was the first airplane to fly around the world without landing or requiring a refuel.
Commercial civilian spaceflight was previously planned to start as early as 2007, but Branson acknowledges that it's a greater challenge than he had realized. When trips do begin, passengers will fly aboard SpaceShipTwo, SpaceShipOne's successor. Tickets don't come cheap — priced at $250,000 — but Virgin has already sold 700 tickets for the first civilians to ever go to space with a private company.
SpaceShipTwo has completed 31 successful test flights this year.
