People get excited about traveling to certain places. Disney World. New York. Paris. London. Australia. Israel. Mt. Fuji. The mountains. Going camping. But the one place that might churn some peoples’ blood more than anything is a destination that we can’t go to yet – but it’s getting closer every day and is, to coin a phrase, “out of this world.”
Of course, I’m talking about space flight.
Sir Richard Branson, he of Virgin “Just About Everything” (Atlantic, Trains, Trains USA, Express, Hotels, etc.) has been working on Virgin Galactic since 2004. In fact, we wrote last year about their successful powered test flight over the Mohave Desert.
At the time, Branson and his Virgin Galactic team hoped to begin commercial flights by the end of that year. They didn’t quite reach that goal, but they’re still working towards it, and now they even have a place they will call home.
"I couldn't be more excited to announce, that @VirginGalactic, is ready to bring New Mexico a world-first, world-class spaceline. Virgin Galactic is coming home to New Mexico where together we will open space to change the world for good." @richardbranson https://t.co/n35fpAsv2W pic.twitter.com/unkxpM8Abo
— Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) May 10, 2019
With today's announcement, New Mexico will become one of the first places on this beautiful planet of ours to regularly send humans into space. We are moving our spaceship and our operations team to New Mexico’s @Spaceport_NM. https://t.co/n35fpAsv2W pic.twitter.com/qn6Ph9lpbp
— Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) May 10, 2019
Yep, Virgin Galactic is moving their personnel and space vehicles from California to a launch and landing facility in the desert of southern New Mexico, in a town in Sierra County called Truth or Consequences (population 6,411). Branson said the program’s development had advanced enough to make the move.
The manufacturer of the space vehicles, The Spaceship Company (which is owned by Virgin Galactic), will remain based on Mojave, California at this time.
In February 2019, SpaceShipTwo, the newest version of Virgin Galactic’s winged craft, flew at 3x the speed of sound to an altitude just shy of 56 miles in a test flight over Southern California, as a crew member evaluated the passenger experience.
That latest flight, plus the move to New Mexico, signals how very close the operation is to providing space travel to paying customers (there are several hundred on the waiting list, including Ashton Kutcher, Leonardo DiCaprio and Justin Bieber), but while Branson says he would like to make his first sub-orbital flight on July 20, 2019 (the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing), Virgin Galactic’s CEO is a little more close-lipped about time frames.
Time will tell.
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love if you decided to hang around and clicked the button on the top (if you’re on your computer) or the bottom (if you’re on your phone/tablet) of this page to follow our blog and get emailed notifications of when we post (it’s usually just two or three times a day). Or maybe you’d like to join our Facebook group, where we talk and ask questions about travel (including Disney parks), creative ways to earn frequent flyer miles and hotel points, how to save money on or for your trips, get access to travel articles you may not see otherwise, etc. Whether you’ve read our posts before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.