The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has given Virgin Galactic the green light to begin transporting passengers into space with its VSS spacecraft. The company is looking to enter the so-called “space tourism” industry, which has been at the center of discussions recently. Essentially, this new license that the company received is an extension of an existing license that allowed the transport of pilots and astronauts into space. The permission to transport ordinary citizens who want to take a short trip outside the Earth came after the successful test flight of Virgin Galactic’s spacecraft on May 22.
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This means Virgin Galactic will be one of the first official “spaceline” companies (like an airline but for space). The company wants to offer an awesome experience to “space tourists” and researchers, giving them an unparalleled view of Earth from space during the 2-hour journey.
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FAA approval is a big step, but the company can't start space travel right away. Virgin Galactic still has to complete three more test flights before that happens. These will be the first flights of Virgin's spacecraft and its carrier, with a full crew. According to CEO Michael Colglazier, the company hopes to have the first of those flights sometime this summer.
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A report earlier this month said the first flight could happen as early as July. If that's true, Virgin Galactic's spacecraft would reach space faster than rival Blue Origin , owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos . Bezos has said he will travel to space on his company's New Shepard spacecraft on July 20, the first manned space mission. Virgin Galactic has not officially said when its next test flight will take place, and many say the early July report is inaccurate.
Source: TechCrunch
