800 customers on the waiting list
Keisha Schahaff and her daughter Anastatia Mayers are originally from Antigua and Barbuda, in the Caribbean, and they won their ticket by participating in a fundraiser organized by Virgin galactic.
It was Richard Branson himself who announced the news to Schahaff, surprising her at home in an astronaut suit.
The tycoon traveled to Antigua and Barbuda again on Thursday to watch the flight with his family, he said on social media, posting a photo of himself and Keisha Schahaff’s mother.
The third passenger British Jon Goodwin, participated in the 1972 Olympic Games. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2014, he was the second person with this disease to travel into space. But, at 80 years old, He hasn’t been the oldest person to do it: actor William Shatner, 90, holds that record.
Fewer than 700 people have flown into space so far, according to Virgin galacticwhich promises to carry out one space flight a month.
About 800 customers bought their tickets, initially priced between $200,000 and $250,000 per passenger, later increased to $450,000.
the space program Virgin galactic It is several years behind schedule, mainly due to an accident in 2014 in which a pilot died.
Virgin galactic It competes with billionaire Jeff Bezos’ company, Blue Origin, which also offers short suborbital flights and has already sent 31 people into space.
But since an accident that took place in September 2022, during an unmanned flight, his rocket remains on the ground. Blue Origin promised in March to resume spaceflight “soon.”