Richard Branson plans to travel in space in July

The British billionaire Richard Branson plans to travel aboard a ship of his signature Virgin Galactic beyond the space border in about five months, according to what he said at the agency on Thursday AFP in Washington.

"My wish is to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first trip to the moon because we are working"said the group leader Virgin, apart from an event in the honor of Virgin Galactic at the Washington Air and Space Museum. Apollo 11 landed on July 20, 1969.

Virgin Galactic is one of the two companies, with Blue originwho are willing to send pbadengers across the border with space for a few minutes.

In December, Virgin Galactic exceeded for the first time the altitude of 80 km, distance States United Mark as the border with the space. The international convention places 100 km.

The ship of Virgin Galacticchristened SpaceShipTwo, is controlled by two pilots. A transport plane launches it like a bomb, then turns on its jet engine and rises to the sky until it reaches an altitude where the curvature of the Earth is visible. Then, get off, scheduled, at Mojave Airport, California, starting point.

You can carry six pbadengers in addition to the two pilots.

Branson has already announced dates for this first trip, which have not been fulfilled. However, this time, he claims that the trials have entered a decisive phase, after the success of the tests last December, when the probe reached the space for the first time.

"In July we will have done enough testssaid Branson, who nevertheless refrained from making promises to customers because "I have to wait until our team is 100% satisfied".

But he said that he believed that "it is possible (make promises) by the end of the year"

The next test flight will be around February 20, depending on weather conditions, he added.

He emphasized that the program of Virgin Galactic It has a cost of about $ 35 million a month. Previously, he had indicated that the total investment exceeded $ 1,000 million since the 2000s.