Virgin Galactic of Richard Branson finally settles in its headquarters of space tourism

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After two successful test missions of its rocket-powered spacecraft over the last few months, the company announced Friday that it would move its spacecraft and 100 of its workers into a building called Spaceport America in the United States. State this summer. They will join approximately 50 other employees who are already working there.
It will take a few months to install and Galactic will perform "the last two or three tests" with only test pilots and crew members on board, said Branson to Rachel Crane of CNN Business Friday.

Then he will be ready to steal his first paying customers.

Hundreds of people line up for a short high-speed trip aboard a Virgin Galactic space plane and have agreed to pay between $ 200,000 and $ 250,000 per seat.

Branson plans to be the first member of the crew to board the plane.

"Hopefully, a few months from now, I will realize my dream of going into space and that others will follow soon," Branson said.

Spaceport America was built about a decade ago by New Mexico officials, mainly with the help of dollars from local taxpayers – and has been waiting since Virgin Galactic, its main tenant, has moved in since.

Branson's startup has spent 15 years building and testing its space plane in the Mojave Desert in California. It took a lot longer than expected, partly because of an accident in 2014 that killed a co-pilot. Some workers will remain in Mojave at Virgin Galactic's manufacturing headquarters.
Spaceport America has generated many reactions in New Mexico. Critics have termed the project a deeply flawed plan to reinvigorate the state's economy with commercial flights in space. The facility continued to absorb millions of dollars in taxes when it was empty.

But now, Virgin Galactic is ready to deliver on its promise to make New Mexico a destination for space travel and flight observation and provide a major benefit to the local economy.

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"We are not just talking about the people we are sending in space, we are talking about [bringing out] family and friends, "Branson told CNN Business. There will be flight training inside the spaceport, and there will be places to eat for their families, ballooning, fishing and mountain biking, and so on. get organized. "

Spaceport America has been waiting for years to install Virgin Galactic.
Branson's announcement comes a day after Amazon's founder, Jeff Bezos, gave lengthy information about his own rocket company, Blue Origin, and about his plan to build a lunar lander that could send back humans on the moon.

Bezos has also spent years developing its space tourism projects, and the company is expected to compete directly with Virgin Galactic in this sector. Bezos confirmed Thursday that Blue Origin was planning to launch its first person in space by the end of the year.

Branson did not say he expected Virgin Galactic to be fully operational before Blue Origin. But he told CNN Business that it did not matter to him much.

"It's great what Jeff [Bezos] and his team do, "he said. And the exciting thing for the world is now that you have Jeff, you have Elon [Musk of SpaceX] and ourselves with different approaches to taking people into space and colonizing places like the moon in the years to come. "

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