Virgin says space flight plan complete, airline expansion planned

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2005

BOMBAY (AFP) — Flamboyant British tycoon Richard Branson said his Virgin group's ambitious plans for commercial space flights are complete and the first fee-paying astronaut will fly with him into orbit in the next 30 months.

"The plan for the new spaceship is complete and work on the project will commence in the next three months, with the first commerical space flight to take off in two-and-half years," Branson told reporters in Bombay, India's financial hub.

Branson landed in Bombay Thursday on board the inaugural flight of his Virgin Atlantic Airways from London. The airline will operate three flights weekly between the two cities.

Wearing a traditional Indian silk costume, Branson said the aim was to make forays into space both safe and cheap.

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