Virgin Galactic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bookings
Virgin Galactic already has $30 million in bookings for flights. Although the initial deposit is set to be $200,000 for the first 100 to fly, the next 400 will pay a deposit between $100,000 and $175,000; all passengers after that will pay a deposit of only $20,000 each.[1]
Among those reported to have told Branson that they wished to be among the first to fly on the spacecraft are actor William Shatner,[2][8] designer Philippe Starck,[9] Former Jane's Addiction and Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Dave Navarro,[10] Alien star Sigourney Weaver,[11] Hollywood director Bryan Singer,[9] musician Moby,[10] socialite Paris Hilton,[12] and astrophysicist Stephen Hawking (who on January 8, 2007 announced plans to take a sub-orbital flight in 2009).[13] Also, Richard Branson himself and some of his family members will be launched on the VSS Enterprise's first commercial flight in 2009, before everyone else.[14] In 2006, Richard Branson offered actor William Shatner a free ride on the inaugural space launch in 2008, saving Shatner $200,000; however, Shatner turned it down, and said, "I do want to go up but I need guarantees I'll definitely come back".[15]
In March 2005, Doug Ramsberg, a native of Northglenn, Colorado, won a free trip to suborbital space aboard Virgin Galactic, from a Volvo sweepstakes sponsored by Virgin.[16] In September 2006, Alan Watts, a British businessman, indicated that he was able to redeem 2,000,000 frequent flyer miles for a ticket aboard a 2009 Virgin Galactic space flight.[17]
