The founder of Virgin Records and Virgin Atlantic Airways Sir Richard Branson announced on a press conference Monday September 27. 2004 that his company has signed a £14 m contract witch will see his company take passengers into space.

According to BBC online, the British entrepreneur is having five "spaceliners" built in the US by the team behind the SpaceShipOne vehicle. The rocket plane became the first privately developed carrier to go above 100 km in June.

It will cost around £ 100 000, - to go on a "Virgin Galactic" spaceliner, and the first flight should begin in about three years time says Sir Richard. His new venture was reviled at a briefing held on the Royal Aeronautical Society in London. He also informed that according to research they have done they believe 3000 people out there want to do this.

The spaceliner vehicle will have room for five passengers. A week's pre-flight training will be required. The voyage will last three hours, with three minutes of weightlessness. The flights will leave from the Mojave Desert. Initially, the tickets will cost about £ 100 000,-. As I write this article, today September 29. 2004 SpaceShuttleOne flew one more successful flight above 100 km. SpaceShipOne is one of more than 20 crafts vying for the $10 m Ansari X-prize , which reward the first team to send a non-government three person craft over 100 km into space, and repeat the feet in the same carrier within two weeks.

"If it is a success, we want to move into orbital flights and then, possibly, even get a hotel up there" Branson says.

Virgin cooperates with Mojave Aerospace Ventures, a company set up by aviation pioneer Burt Rutan and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen to exploit the technologies developed for SpaceShipOne.

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