New York: Billionaire Richard Branson’s space tourism company Virgin Galactic on Monday announced the signing of an agreement with NASA to encourage commercial participation in orbital human spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS).
Building on its commercial spaceflight training experience, Virgin Galactic said it believes it can provide an unparalleled, personalised customer experience for orbital space travel.
The company said that these trips may not be limited to people for space tourism purposes only.
Private astronaut experiences could range from private citizen expeditions to government-enabled scientific research missions, Virgin Galactic said, adding that the next generation of space traveller is interested in a variety of space experiences.
Under this Space Act Agreement agreement, Virgin Galactic will develop a new private orbital astronaut readiness programme.