A TICKET TO SPACE

US$600,000 each, space tourists can enjoy weightlessness and sweeping views of Earth on a Virgin Galactic spaceship. The Straits Times gets an exclusive look at their pre-flight experience in New Mexico

- Alison de Souza

NEW MEXICO - Would you pay US$600,000 (S$810,000) to ride on a spaceship and experience three minutes of weightlessness? For about 700 people — two of them based in Singapore — the answer to that question is a resounding "yes", and each has put down a hefty deposit for a spot on the "future astronaut" waiting list at Virgin Galactic, British billionaire Richard Branson's space tourism company.

The flight to and from space lasts about two hours, just three to five minutes of which is spent floating almost 90km above the surface of the Earth.

The Virgin Galactic carrier aircraft, or "mothership", takes off with the smaller spaceship tucked beneath it and ascends to an altitude of about 15km. The spaceship is then released, igniting its rocket motor and accelerating to three times the speed of sound until it reaches the edge of space.

When the craft reaches its maximum altitude of about 88km, passengers unclasp from their seats and experience microgravity — and an unparalleled view of the Earth — before the ship glides back to the ground.

While the experience is fleeting, the company spends months preparing customers for what is often the fulfilment of a childhood dream.

They are also initiated into a hyper-exclusive community of future and former astronauts, who are all invited to holiday on Necker Island, Mr Branson's private Caribbean getaway.

So far, only 23 people have flown as paying customers on the seven commercial flights Virgin Galactic has operated since 2023, but the company is scaling up, building a new class of spaceships and increasing flights so it can eventually fly thousands of people annually.

But why do this at all?

Those who have been to space, even briefly, universally describe it as a thrilling yet profound experience that forever alters how they see the world.