The head of the U.S. company, Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson has got a very powerful and rich friend Saudi Arabia. Perhaps with the support of the state, his dream will finally be realized in the space will be able to fly not only the past years of training professionals, but also ordinary tourists. The government of Saudi Arabia has announced plans to invest in the development of the company Branson $ 1 billion, with a possible increase in investment for another 480 million in the future.
“Investments from Saudi Arabia will allow the company Virgin Galactic to begin a new Chapter in the field of human flight in space, the economical output of satellites into orbit and transcontinental flights via space. Investments currently tested in the relevant state structures of the USA, but we can already say with confidence that such an approach is key to commercial access to space,” reads the official statement.
The investment will be divided between three companies belonging to the group of the Virgin Group. The first and most important, of course, is Virgin Galactic, responsible for developing spacecraft VSS Unity. Part of the money also will go to the company, The Spaceship Company created last model of the spacecraft, and Virgin Orbit involved in the launch of small satellites. Despite the investment of another state, Virgin will keep all your laboratory and production in the United States. However, in Saudi Arabia, will open a specialized centre dedicated to space tourism.
Saudi Arabia is investing in space tourism $ 1 billion
Sergey Grey