Virgin Galactic commercial space flights to start this month for £352K per person

While many of us are looking forward to jetting off to somewhere in Europe this summer, a very lucky few will end up flying to space.

Well, you say lucky, but you will have to fork out a whopping $450,000 (£352,170) per person for the privilege to hop on board the Galactic 01.

Yes, the first flight from Richard Branson's space tourism company Virgin Galactic has been announced, with it set to take to the skies in a launch window between 27-30 June.

The commercial opening comes after the Unity 25 spaceflight and routine analysis and vehicle inspections were completed.

However, it comes just a month after Virgin Orbit - a separate space firm owned by Branson - completely shut down after a mission failed.

Virgin Galactic

The first flight for Virgin Galactic will be a scientific research mission, which will carry three crew members from the Italian Air Force and the National Research Council of Italy.

Following that, a second commercial flight will follow in August, appropriately named Galactic 02.

After that, the company says it expects to operate monthly spaceflights.

"We are launching the first commercial spaceline for Earth with two dynamic products - our scientific research and private astronaut space missions," said Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier.

"This next exciting chapter for Virgin Galactic has been driven by innovation, determination and a commitment to delivering an unparalleled and truly transformative customer experience."

After making the exciting announcement, Virgin Galactic's shares have jumped more than 40 percent in extended New York trading, as per the BBC.

The company has sold more than 800 tickets to people wanting to board the revolutionary aircraft, which takes passengers 80km (260,000ft) above Earth and allows them a few minutes to experience weightlessness.

Speaking with LADbible in January, Branson declared that his company were 'at the start of making it more accessible to more people' but conceded that the days of space travel being widely available were still a few years off.

HBO

Branson admitted that any big leap forward in space travel taking it from a few flights a year into something commercial where some of the public could pay and afford it for was 'gonna take some years'.

He said: "I think realistically, it is. I mean, normally, I talk ahead of myself, but I think that before it becomes like commercial airline travel it's going to take a few decades.

“But what I can say is we'll do our best to speed it up. I'm getting I'm getting on and I'd like to see it. We’ll go as quickly as we can."

Branson added: “I do plant that flag ahead and then try to get that get the troops around me to make sure that we reach that flag, or reach that milestone. I've been fortunate in my lifetime that by and large we’ve managed in the end to get to that flag. You chivvy you and everybody along."