If you have a WIRED magazine subscription, you’ll have just received the March issue which features Richard Branson on the cover, flanked by George Whitesides and Mike Melvill – two of the top names in space travel, who are helping to launch Virgin Galactic.
The buzz surrounding Branson’s aspirations to send people into space has been big for years. Whilst Branson had originally hoped to launch Virgin Galactic in 2007, delays have meant that it is now due to open its shuttle doors in early 2014 – so it’s only one more year to wait!
WIRED caught up with the trip to find out exactly how it will all work, the technology behind it all and their future plans.
When the option to offer space travel to passengers first became an option to Branson, he turned it down. “It would cost $50m or something,” he says. “I just felt that to spend that sort of moneyu going into space, people just might feel it was a bit of a waste.”
However, he admits that he later regretted his decision. “I think maybe I should have said yes. I could probably have justified it from a marketing point of view.”
When the opportunity arose again, Branson jumped at the chance and began asking around to gauge others’ interest in it. “I said, ‘If you had the chance to go to space, and were pretty sure it would be a return ticket – and you could afford it – how many of you would go?’ And 95 per cent of people would stick their hands up.”
Find out more about the launch of Virgin Galactic in the current issue, before you subscribe and save on a WIRED magazine subscription today.
Posted by Donnie Bachan.
