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Virgin Galactic unveils luxury lounge at its airport for space tourism
Richard Branson's space tourism startup, Virgin Galactic, is showing off a luxurious lounge area and top-shelf amenities for its wealthy clientele. The company on Thursday shared images of the interior at Spaceport America in New Mexico. Ticket holders, most of whom paid $200,000 or more for a Virgin Galactic flight, will one day congregate at the spaceport before they board a supersonic plane for a 90-minute ride into the upper atmosphere.
The renovations are another sign that Virgin Galactic is preparing to open for business at Spaceport America, a controversial facility that was built a decade ago using local taxpayer dollars. Images of the first-floor lounge area show a large coffee bar made of "back-lit Italian marble hovering above hand-crafted oak," according to a press release. Modern couches line the floor-to-ceiling windows at the spaceport with panoramic views of the surrounding desert. Other new facilities include a mission control center, a working area for pilots, and a briefing center.
Hundreds of people are lined up to ride a short high-speed trip aboard a Virgin Galactic space plane. Branson, who founded the venture in 2004, plans to be the first tourist aboard a Virgin Galactic space plane. The company said it has additional test flights planned and will be ready to start flying paying customers in the first half of 2020.
Also at TechCrunch.
Older article: Virgin Galactic prepares to move vehicles, staff to Spaceport America
Related: Virgin Galactic: Rocket Reaches Space Again in Test Flight (Update)
(Score: 2) by corey on Monday August 19 2019, @02:20AM (3 children)
Sounds like how I imagine the first airlines started? It was all exclusive and fancy in the early days.
One day we might look back on this with a similar feeling.
(Score: 2) by black6host on Monday August 19 2019, @02:30AM
Indeed. There is a bit of the get off my lawn thinking in my original post, to be sure. On the other hand if we were to put enough effort, energy, money or whatever into ensuring this planet that we live on remains habitable I think my cynicism may, perhaps, abate.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Monday August 19 2019, @03:36AM
Oh, the humanity...
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 19 2019, @05:41AM
This seems less like the airlines, and more like a very expensive version of the thrill rides that barnstormers gave people in the 1920s.