 | |
| Type | Limited liability company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Space tourism |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Founder(s) | Richard Branson |
| Headquarters | Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States |
| Key people | George Whitesides (CEO) |
| Parent | Virgin Group |
| Website | virgingalactic.com |
Virgin Galactic is a company within Richard Branson's Virgin Group which provides orbital spaceflights to space tourists, orbital launches for space science missions and orbital launches of small satellites. Further in the future Virgin Galactic hopes to offer lunar spaceflights as well. Virgin Galactic's spacecraft were designed by Burt Rutan and are launched from a large aeroplane, giving the spacecraft more initial speed and altitude than if it were launched from the ground and hopes to break Microrocket's near monopoly on launch services.
The Plan
Small tourist day-tripper.
Launching in the upper-atmosphere.
Mother ship returning home.